Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • July 30, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 15 be used as bank collateral. Typically, coworking landlords rely on private-equity funding from individual or institutional investors or loan guarantees to fund development and marketing of coworking spaces. Willmott also sees risk in Central Row's owners trying to monetize space in a building meant primarily as a corporate headquarters. "It's very difficult for building own- ers to do coworking well because it's not their expertise,'' he said, noting iQ leases its cowork- ing spaces from landlords. "The challenge is that as a building owner, you have to build a brand and have a brand promise. Coworking is moving so fast, that if you're not doing it full time and you don't have scale, it's difficult to meet the demands of the customer.'' The perks Since its debut last Novem- ber, Central Row has attract- ed six members who share in using its six 150-square-foot offices, priced at $900 per month; six dedicated desks for $400 monthly; and nine tabletop workstations, known as "hot desks,'' for $250 a month, said Kahn, the Central Row sales associate. Rates include use of Wi-Fi, printers and fax machines, two conference rooms — each with large flat screens and seat- ing for six and 12 — and an equipped kitchenette installed inside an old bank vault. Non-members pay $250 per day, or $50 an hour, for the larger conference room; the smaller one runs half that. Central Row's operators are in talks with The Hartford Club, located nearby, about allowing Central Row members access to its underground parking spaces and to dine there at a discount, Kahn said. Central Row's conference rooms have been in demand so far, Kahn said. Several video depositions have been taken there and small businesses use them as meeting space. Apple has re- served one of the rooms for future use. Members also get access, via an app, to a "virtual mail system,'' Kahn says, in which Central Row receives and forwards their postal mail and pack- age deliveries. Entering Central Row, visitors sign- in at a concierge desk at the entrance to an oversized living room, with sofa seating, coffee table, and contempo- rary, bright-colored wingback chairs. This space, Kahn says, is an ideal, in- formal space for private meetings and gatherings like the recent space tour. HALO in 2017 paid $762,500 for Six Central Row, a historic office building erected in 1850 that now houses the company's head- quarters. HALO previously called Glastonbury home. Miller, a fan of old office edi- fices, said he fell in love with the location and the opportu- nity to be in the Capital City. HALO occupies 6,000 to 7,000 square feet on the up- per floor of Six Central Row, where its administrative and R&D operations are based. The fourth floor contains HALO's "secret lab" for prod- uct development, Miller said. Live and work Inside downtown's Cast Iron Building, adjacent to the Goodwin Square office building, landlord Keith Warner says he has created 5,000 square feet of cowork- ing space on the second and third floors. So far, four subscribers pay from $150 a month for desk space, and from $450 to $650 a month for a small office, with internet, Wi-F and a kitchen with coffee and beverages. Warner, who frequently encountered the shared workspace concept while traveling the globe on business, says he modeled Think Synergy after New York City coworking-space innovator We- Work, whose shared workspace concept launched in 2010 and has since been replicated in urban markets nationwide. On top of the shared workspaces in his Hartford building, Warner also carved out six, two-bedroom apartments — sized 1,200 to 1,600 square feet, renting from $1,750 to $2,500 a month — from the building's former office spaces, so tenants can live and work in the build- ing. Four are occupied, Warner said. "I figured the coworking space is where the Millennials wanted to go work,'' he said. On top of the shared workspace, Think Synergy also provides a smor- gasboard of business-support services, he said, such as financial consulting, bookkeeping, even assisting clients in pursuing debt or equity financing. Warner says those offerings differ- entiate his shared workspace concept from competitors'. The ability for members to expand or shrink their space needs with market conditions, too, is an attractive plus, he said. Warner says he's looking to expand Think Synergy to other Connecticut markets, including Stamford and Greenwich. Warner says he does not yet own buildings there. Central Row's entrance looks like an oversized living room with sofa seating, a coffee table and chairs.

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