Alternative work space company Spaces is ready to show off its airy, new home at one of San Diego’s most distinctive office projects, the 60,000 square-foot Block D building in East Village’s still up-and-coming Makers Quarter. Thursday, the millennial-friendly brand, which has taken over half of the low-rise tower, celebrated its downtown debut with grand-opening festivities that included an appearance from Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego), and offered guests mini-massages and craft cocktails. “We’re excited to launch the Spaces brand in downtown San Diego,” said Jim Doorn, who is an executive vice president for the firm. “We try to find unique spaces for our Spaces brand. (Block D) is one of the most sustainable projects in the country. The building has these really cool garage doors ... that bring the great San Diego climate into the space.” Spaces Makers Quarter consists of 35,000 square feet of shared and private areas for companies and individuals who want to partake in the brand’s contemporary take on office life. Amenities include an on-site cafe, comfy couches, outdoor seating and use of six shared bikes. Plus, the building’s aforementioned motorized, glass garage doors are a singular feature that will appeal to workers looking to enjoy cool breezes while indoors. The venue at 845 15th St. is the second San Diego abode for Spaces, which also operates at 4660 La Jolla Village Drive in University City. The brand also plans to open a Little Italy location in March. A subsidiary of the 30-year-old International Workplace Group, Spaces is a hip-but-still-professional offshoot of flexible workspace firm Regus, which operates 19 San Diego area locations and accounts for around 20 percent of the region’s co-working space. On the whole, San Diego County is home to more than 1.5 million square feet of co-working space — or 2 percent of total office inventory — according to a June 2019 report issued by commercial real-estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. Spaces competes directly with WeWork. Earlier this year WeWork abandoned efforts to go public and appeared to be on the brink of financial collapse before receiving a $9.5 billion cash infusion from Japanese investor SoftBank. Meanwhile, Spaces’ parent IWG, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, reported around $65 million in operating profit for the first half of 2019. “We’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Doorn said. “We have a very healthy balance sheet and low debt.” The firm’s newest local address represents a larger belief in the vision behind Makers Quarter, a master-planned live-work-play section in East Village. The region is located south of City College and bounded by Broadway and G Street, 14th and 17th streets. It’s a makeover of the Jerome’s Furniture family property holdings, and is still taking shape with long-planned office projects and a massive park known as East Village Green not yet in development. Membership to the Spaces facility, which includes access to IWG locations around the world, starts at $239 per month, whereas dedicated desks cost $433 per month and private offices are offered at $649 and up per month.
Spaces has opened a 60,000 sq ft co-working site in San Diego’s East Village, its second location in the city. Situated in block D of the up-and-coming Makers Quarter, which is considered to be one of the most sustainable projects in the country. Spaces also plans to open a third site in Little Italy in March. The company says that it will use renewable energy and water efficient technologies for all of its buildings.