A visitor could mistake PIPELINE for a boutique hotel. It’s full of whimsical touches, but has everything you need in a workspace.
Stepping off the elevator onto the 11th floor of the 16-story Orange Avenue tower known for its most prominent resident, injury law firm Morgan & Morgan, a certain vibe is immediately evident.
Front and center, PIPELINE is spelled out the length of the reception desk, which itself is dramatically backed by a wall lit with vanity mirror-style bulbs. A visitor could mistake this space for a boutique hotel and a first look around does nothing to dissuade that impression.
Both modern and warm, with a touch of whimsy in the form of a life-size astronaut figure, the common areas soon reveal PIPELINE’s mission: to provide working space for individuals and firms that choose to keep operations lean and mean.
Enter the world of coworking, or shared workspace. At its most basic, a shared workspace offers individuals and organizations a place they can call The Office. Options range from the daily use of a desk to the long-term leasing of an entire building.
One key to a successful co-working space is interaction among it clients, allowing them to make meaningful connections.
PIPELINE’s common and kitchen areas.
Prices, membership levels, amenities and office options are negotiable and customizable. Think high-speed internet, top-flight office equipment, security, a conference space with A/V tools, reception area/desk, physical address, voicemail, mail service and kitchen and dining space.
Those are the amenities to which firms affix a price but amid the free coffee and cookies come what many consider the most important aspects of shared workspace: The social and networking opportunities.
The Framily Support Network, co-founded by Aaron Lewis, Kayla Bronson and Grace Appelbaum, moved into the Pipeline at 20 N. Orange Ave. last December. The nonprofit’s goal is to end homelessness in Orlando and its name is a mashup of friends and family.
The mission of the Framily Support Network is “Profits with Purpose,” says Lewis, so as the trio moves forward, the Framily Support Network will act as a parent company to multiple business ventures. Strategix Growth Solutions, a tech-driven financial management firm, was the first to power up, with Framily Freight Lines coming next.
“There will be many more to come, because the idea is that our nonprofit will depend on no sort of grants or donations,” Lewis adds.
Bronson and Lewis said that after a supporter inexplicably walked away from the promise of a $2.5 million donation, the fledgling nonprofit had some hard decisions to make. What was going to be three floors of services for military veterans and homeless citizens turned into a scaled-down but aggressive plan to stay in the game.
“It was a very big hit, mainly for the fact that there were so many people that we were going to help that we no longer could. So, to ensure that we could do the most good, we gave up our office at Expansive at the Angebilt Building and we worked out of the house for the rest of last year,” Lewis says.
Bronson says the space at PIPELINE suits their situation. “We love this office.”
“What made PIPELINE such an easy choice is that we looked at a few different coworking spaces and they really worked with us.”
PIPELINE’s location downtown was another element in its favor, Bronson says. “The second most important is location. This place is specifically located in the heart of downtown, where we’re surrounded by potential clients and our partner organizations.”
“When there’s a meeting with Homeless Service Network or we need to go run up to the Christian Service Center, we’re so close we could walk or go by scooter, it’s so accessible to the population that we’re working with,” she says.
The concept of a rentable workspace that comes with infinite options gained popularity with the advent of remote work, itself accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic and an inflationary economy.
Approximately 494,000 square feet citywide are listed as shared workspace, with rental rates varying drastically based on members’ needs, says Sara Barnes, manager, market intelligence, for the Southeast Region of Toronto, Canada-based Avison Young.
“The rates I have seen range from $200 a month up to $13,000 a month,” Barnes says of office suites and more.
According to CommercialCafe, a real estate listing service, Orlando is home to 33 businesses offering shared workspace. Among the major players in the Orlando market are Regus, Industrious at Downtown Orlando, PIPELINE, Serendipity Labs, The Conduit and Expansive at the Angebilt Building.
“We’re not seeing any cooling at this time. Coworking and executive suite operators are continuing to pursue expansion in the Orlando market,” says Greg Morrison, principal, managing director of Avison Young’s Orlando office.
Spaces at The Conduit are anything but typical.
Inarguably, the most unique shared workspace is The Conduit, at 1001 N. Orange Ave. For longtime Orlandoans, the address evokes smiles as the home of a demonstrative expression of talent and eccentricity—as inside is a town of little houses and little storefronts. Clapboard siding, faux chimneys, tile rooftops, flower boxes, shutters, brick walls and stone flooring—the offices are anything but typical.
“This building, the Evans Building, was kind of iconic back in the 1990s,” says Kyle Steele, co-founder of The Conduit.
“Don Evans, who was the previous owner, was a character. The Evans Group did development work so they would use this building to showcase the materials that they would put in their builds. And he was an eccentric. He wanted to be mayor of his own town, so that’s why the place looks the way it looks,” Steele explains.
Coworking is still somewhat of a mystery to people, Steele says. “So there’s still a little bit of education that people need.”
“I go around to coffee shops all the time and see the same people, frustrated.”
Steele engages them, saying, “You know there’s another solution for you? I’ll say, ‘Listen, it’ll cost you $175 to get a floating membership at a coworking space.’ They’ll say, ‘Whoa, $175! I can’t afford that.’ But you’re sitting here at Starbucks every day spending $15 on drinks or whatever. You CAN afford it.”
He’ll break it down for the now-intrigued coffee shop denizen.“Let me do the math for you. If you have $175, you can come seven days a week. It’s basically $5 a day. And by the way, you get coffee that’s really good and you can drink as much as you want, and you get snacks.”
“And you get all the other stuff with it. You have to break it down to unit economics for them to understand. Just go get a membership somewhere for a lot cheaper plus stability, flexibility, dependability, all the snacks and the community for essentially $5 a day,” he says.
Space at The Conduit is so coveted that all of its offices and dedicated desks are full.
It takes a certain type to want to be a member here, he notes. Among The Conduit’s 282 members are the League of Women Voters of Florida, State Rep. Anna Eskamani, Ivanhoe Village Main Street, Black Orlando Tech and Orlando magazine. All of The Conduit’s offices and dedicated desks are full.
“Our community is extremely altruistic, and this resonates with a very specific person. Because people will talk to you. People will ask questions; people will try to be helpful. That’s what The Conduit is all about and why we’re entering our ninth year,” Steele says.
The human connection is echoed by Lewis as the most important reason to choose a coworking organization.
“Anybody who is starting an endeavor, I would suggest coworking because you are going to learn so many lessons in your first year and you’re going to be surrounded by individuals that are either learning those lessons with you or who just went through those situations and has a solution for you,” he says.
Steele explains it this way: “At the end of the day, humans need to get together. All the conversations required to innovate and do good work and to build culture and trust… you have to be around people.”
Attention to design and the small details has made Venture X a success.
Anatomy of a Coworking Space
“I think coworking is a great incubator of businesses,” says Kevin Priddy, who, with his wife Giedre, runs the 21,000-square-foot Venture X space at 100 E. Pine St. in downtown Orlando. “They come in and use our community space, and then move up to an office or multiple offices. Our job is to help them until they outgrow us.”
The Priddys, who have Venture X and Office Evolution locations in West Palm Beach and are developing another Venture X in Boca Raton, came to The City Beautiful as it has the fourth-highest business application rate in the nation, according to the Orlando Business Journal.
“It’s all about building and fostering a community,” says Giedre. “The Orlando building has a member who’s an event planner, and when other members come in, they work together.”
Having a great location and team in place are crucial to the smooth operation of a coworking space, and even though the Priddys aren’t always on site, communication through Slack, as well as video and conference calls, lets them be present every day. But beyond that, Giedre says being focused on the details and delivering a high level of hospitality is what sets Venture X apart.
The community space at Venture X.
“If someone booking a conference room walks in and they notice something’s out of place or something’s dirty, that resonates with them. If they see two or three of those things, now they’re really turned off and they don’t want to come back to that location.”
“In every conference room,” she adds, “we have a pitcher of ice water and glasses. We make sure everything’s clean. We keep the chairs turned the right way. So, you walk in, and it’s inviting. It’s really simple stuff and we talk about it all the time.”
The Priddys also encourage members to decorate their spaces.
“When you see them adding personal touches like their kids’ art on the wall, it’s awesome,” says Kevin. “You know that they bring their children here, they show them where they work. It’s a community.”
A Best Pro Roofing Company employee works at Venture X.
Types of shared workspace options
Whether your business is large or small, coworking spaces allow the ultimate in flexibility—the option to rent physical or virtual spaces. Here, we break down the possibilities.
CONFERENCE SPACE: Private, bookable meeting room with A/V equipment, usually available by the hour or full day.
COWORKING COMMON SPACE: with access to meeting rooms and other amenities.
DEDICATED DESK: Individual desk with lockable storage.
HOT DESK OR FLEXIBLE WORKSPACE: Any unassigned, open desk, available on a first-come, first-served basis.
PRIVATE OFFICE: Dedicated, secure suite, usually with a full complement of amenities including conference room hours.
VIRTUAL: Access to meeting space, a business address and an answering service.