That fortunate startup is called SoMoLend, one of eight finalists chosen from among several hundred applicants to present at Startup 2012. Startup 2012 is New York City’s premier business plan competition and entrepreneurship conference.

TechSpace is no stranger to startups. TechSpace’s three New York City locations are home to more than 150 businesses and, in fact, the firm bills itself as an ideal environment for startups. TechSpace offers short-term office space options—as short as six months—that allow clients to change and grow in line with their business needs.

TechSpace also offers what it calls “integrated modular workspace floor plans,” as well as state-of-the-art technology, business services, creatively charged architectural design, and a community-oriented environment. TechSpace clients can tap into secure and private Wi-Fi, receptionist services, mail and delivery service, office supplies and conference room rentals.

Sounds like your standard modern executive office suites in New York with a tech startup twist—and that’s just what it is. TechSpace has locations in Chelsea, Union Square and West Village.

The Chelsea office space features 63 executive office suites and 209 workstations. The loft-like Union Square office space offers 72 executive office suites and 388 workspaces and is expanding in August to add on another floor. And the West Village office space offers 33 executive office suites and 163 workstations. TechSpace isn’t just a New York City brand. The company also has executive office suites in Aliso Viejo, Costa Mesa, and Los Angeles.

Be sure to follow TechSpace on Twitter.

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“We’ve got a great new space opening up in San Francisco on May 14th!” the shared office space provider posted on its Web site. WeWork is looking for its inaugural members. This is a cool place to work. WeWork was named one of “The 5 Coolest Coworking Spaces in New York City” by The Next Web. Business Insider listed WeWork as one of “The 20 Best New Startups of 2011.”

Although full details of what the San Francisco shared office space will offer have not been fully revealed, we can take some hints from WeWork’s New York locations. In New York, WeWork customers can rent virtual office space for $99 a month. This gives you mail and package delivery, access to a conference room and a smart address. You can also opt for hotdesk coworking for $250 a month and lets you work in a café-like work space with high-speed Internet access and other basic amenities. New York tenants can also choose a single desk workspace, complete with a desk, chair, filing cabinet and desk lamp in a room you can lock for $375 a month. Private offices run $550 to $2,400 a month.

WeWork offers many of the same standard amenities you’d find in most other serviced office projects. But there are some unique differentiators worth nothing. For example, the conference rooms are dressed with entire-wall whiteboards.

The company also offers a podcast recording booth and a private phone booth, as well as fresh fair trade organic coffee every morning and aquavo ovpur water filters, a new book and magazine library, indoor bike storage and discounted zipcar membership.

Be sure to follow WeWork on Twitter.

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Indeed, the Executive Office Center at Fresh Meadows says svirtual office services and serviced office space are finding favor with Queens social workers and related professions.

“What I think social workers will find most attractive about the Executive Office Center is its affordability,” says Jack Blumner, executive director of the Executive Office Center at Fresh Meadows. “You can say goodbye to high rent and overhead when you rent an office at the Executive Office Center. One monthly fee covers all of your expenses, including lobby reception, telephone answering, Internet, utilities and cleaning.”

The Executive Office Center at Fresh Meadows is the first serviced office space provider to open in Queens. A half dozen mental health professionals now call the executive office suites facility home. Sandra Hamberger, LCSW/R, a licensed clinical therapist practicing psychoanalytic therapy and cognitive behavior therapy, has been a tenant of the Executive Office Center for more than a year.

“The thing I love most about the Executive Office Center is the warm, inviting atmosphere, which is so important to my clients,” Hamberger says. “Queens Blvd. has always been the locus for Queens social workers. I’ve never been able to understand that. It’s impossible to find parking in Forest Hills. My patients are nervous enough. They don’t have to drive around and around until they find a spot. It’s easy to find parking in the vicinity of the Executive Office Center.”

Pat Lissade, LSCW, who offers therapy for individuals, couples and families, is another psychotherapist working out of the Executive Office Center.

“When I was looking for office space 10 months ago, I was fortunate to come across this gem of an office building,” Lissade says. “As a psychotherapist, the environment that clients discuss their most personal feelings must be inviting, warm and comfortable. While the physical space is lovely, what clients often comment on is the historical photos that line the walls, the accessibility to public transportation and the availability of parking.”

The Executive Office Center at Fresh Meadows is located just off exit 25 of the Long Island Expressway. It is within 20 minutes of all Queens neighborhoods and Manhattan. The serviced office provider will host a public open house on Wednesday, May 16, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. for people who want to tour the facility and find out more about its instant office space and virtual office services.

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It seems Miami executive office suites and virtual office space provider Intelligent Office Miami is seeing its fair share of the foreign investment. Indeed, international companies looking to establish a U.S. presence out of Miami, as well as U.S.-based companies that want to enhance their businesses’ identities, are taking up residence in Intelligent Office Miami.

A telecommunications company from Turkey, an import-export company from Hong Kong, a cloud-hosting company from the United Kingdom and an import-export medical equipment company from Venezuela are among the latest foreign tenants to rent space at Intelligent Office Miami.

“Intelligent Office Miami is attracting a diverse roster of clients because of the diverse products and services we provide,” says Allan Sirotkin, managing director of Intelligent Office Miami.  “We’re definitely not a one-size-fits-all business solution.  Rather, we customize our services to best fit the needs of a company’s business goals.”

Sirotkin says the medical company out of Venezuela is using Intelligent Office’s Teleworker system, a phone system that allows the company’s team in South America to call the U.S. without long distance dialing or international phone charges.  And the British cloud hosting company is using Intelligent Office’s Intelligent Assistants, a team of custom-trained business concierges, to assist with customer inquiries and appointment scheduling.  Other international companies are tapping into the branding power of Intelligent Office Miami’s Business Identity package which provides a professional business address, mailbox service, access to offices and conference rooms, a dedicated business telephone number and virtual receptionist services.

Sirotkin pointed out that the international clients are attracted to Intelligent Office’s ability to establish a U.S. presence without the costs and commitments of long-term leasing, furniture and equipment purchases and staff costs. Intelligent Office has all the necessary business infrastructure in place.

Intelligent Office Miami is located on the 37th floor of One Biscayne Tower in Downtown Miami, with panoramic views of the skyline and Biscayne Bay.  The location features private office space, two conference suites, a kitchen, and private, locked mailboxes, all of which are available 24/7.  You can rent office space by the hour, day, week or month with prices starting around $18 per hour or $900 per month for an office suite.  Other facilities and support services are completely customizable to address the specific needs of each business and are priced accordingly.

Be sure to follow Intelligent Office Miami on Twitter.

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The Naples, Fla. coworking office space is opening its alternative workplace doors to 8,000 square feet of premium first floor space at Mercato later this year. But the buzz is already getting pretty loud. The members-only workspace was cofounded by Naples residents and serial entrepreneurs David Diamond, Brett Diamond and John DeAngelis.

“How we work has radically changed in the last five years, and it’s continuing to evolve in a way that provides freedom and ease of entry for new ventures,” Diamond says. “Mobile technology, smart phones, the cloud and social networking are making it easier and less expensive than ever before to start and grow your new company.”

From its Southwest Florida location, Venture X promise to provide a unique work space for today’s radical entrepreneurs and to inspire, foster and develop entrepreneurship in the region. Diamond says Venture X was created to give new entrepreneurs an environment to have that freedom and to work and succeed in the way they want.

Be sure to follow Venture X on Twitter.

“People can now choose when and how they like to work and on their terms. They want the freedom to work outside the traditional corporate environment. They may have thought about a traditional office, executive suite, working from home, or a coffee shop, but soon discovered they all were a bad idea,” Diamond says. “Executive suites are cold and you feel isolated, working from home is distracting and you don’t get out of your pajamas until 3:00 in the afternoon, and coffee shops were not impressing the clients.”

Venture X offers workspace, events, classes, and a collaborative community complete with features such like high-speed WiFi, free organic coffee, modern desks, state-of-the-art conference rooms, cool lounge seating, café style kitchen, tech gadgets, quality color printing, lockers, personal storage, outdoor café seating, large event space and much more.

“We are really excited to bring this to Naples,” says Diamond. “We have experienced working in these types of spaces in San Francisco, LA and New York and saw how they encouraged entrepreneurship and helped startups and small companies thrive in a new, unique and exciting way. We are thrilled to be in Mercato which was our first choice as it offers all the best that is in Naples and gives a great business advantage to our innovative, creative members.”

Construction begins in May to create the functional, innovative and aesthetic space that uses sustainable and recyclable products. With seating for over 100 members, Venture X is accepting applications for its members now and will be open in early Fall 2012. Daily membership will run $35. Mobile members will pay $100 a month. Other office space programs are also available.

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Well, Time just released its second annual list of “10 NYC Startups to Watch for 2012.” And guess what? Alternative workplace strategies are a theme, with two of the top 10 having ties to coworking office space and virtual offices.

“Whether as journalists on the lookout for the next big thing, or as a publishing company pursuing growth in a rapidly evolving environment, Time Inc. is constantly searching for the kind of digital innovation that changes behavior in the simplest and most profound ways,” says Mark Golin, Digital Editorial Director for Time Inc.’s Style & Entertainment and Lifestyle Groups. “And, given the increasingly hot startup scene here in New York City … we don’t have to look too far to find that innovation.”

So what companies with ties to alternative office space made the list? Fancy Hands and Loosecubes.

You are probably familiar with Loosecubes because we’ve highlighted them before. In case you are not, Loosecubes is a global office sharing community, connecting people who have great workspace with people who need it on a daily basis. Loosecubes brings connections into the real world during business hours and has seen that coworking can lead to new jobs, partnerships, referrals and friendships.

Fancy Hands is team of virtual personal assistants ready to work for you right now. Fancy Hands has several packages, and pricing its based on the number of requests with no hourly fees. A sideways connection on the list is Enterproid, which allows companies to embrace the “bring your own device” phenomenon.

How big of a deal is it to land on the list? It’s a major vote of confidence.

The list made its debut during Internet Week New York 2011 with a selection of startups that have experienced significant growth and success over the past year including GroupMe, the group messaging app, which was later bought by Skype for a rumored $85 million, and online eyewear designer and retailer Warby Parker, which has grown 500% percent over the past year.

If the success of other companies that landed on this list are any indication, then Loosecubes and Fancy Hands have a bright future.

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“Today, more than ever, business people are looking for value,” says Virgo CEO Sarah Klein. “At Virgo, we provide superior value by offering flexible, affordable office solutions for businesses of all types of sizes.”

Virgo’s growth flows in the vein of a burgeoning executive office suites industry. The Global Workspace Association just announced that the shared and serviced workspace sector has grown by 10 percent a year for the past three years. What’s more, a Deskmag survey found that 33 percent of coworking office space locations across the country plans to expand in 2012.

Virgo offers plenty of diversity for New York workspace seekers. There are several types of office solutions to choose from. Let’s start with executive office suites. These are offices usually designed for a single tenant. However, Virgo Business Centers can expand them thanks to its modular furniture to accommodate up to four people. The price: $700 a month.

Team rooms are just what they sound like—built for teams. Virgo Business Centers designed team rooms for growing companies that aren’t ready to commit to a long-term traditional lease or for outfits that have traveling teams. The price: $1,000 a month and up.

Virgo also offers workstations, which essentially take the form of a variety of private cubicles and shared offices. This is an economical option for many. The price: $500 a month. Then there are day offices, designed for a single tenant with room for client drop ins. You can rent a day office space for $25 an hour or $100 a day.

Virtual offices are always popular in New York. Virgo offers virtual offices in New York for just $50 a month. Finally, the meeting room option lets you bring together a group of five to 20 people. Virgo meeting rooms come equipped with TV, DVD, Internet, speaker phone, LCD projector, and catering services. The cost: $50 an hour or $300 a day.

Virgo aims to open its 14 Penn location is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2012. Virgo’s other New York executive office suites at 350 Fifth Avenue, 380 Lexington Avenue, 304 Park Avenue South, and 575 Lexington Avenue. Virgo Business Centers has been offering New York executive office suites since 1998.

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The Global Workspace Association (GWA) says the need for truly flexible work environments is fueling the growth in the alternative workspace or so-called workspace-as-a-service industry, which has seen occupancy levels improve. Consider the latest industry numbers: The shared or serviced workspace sector has grown by 10 percent a year for the past three years.

“Technology advancements, the omnipresence of the online market place and mobility over the past decade have permanently altered the way small businesses operate,” says John Jordan, president of the GWA. “Evolving workforce and meeting-place considerations driven by the need for agility and financial flexibility are steering more small-business owners away from long-term fixed costs for office space and operational infrastructure.”

The GWA reports year-over-year virtual-office revenue increased by 13.8 percent—and meeting room and day room revenues nearly doubled in the same period. These sectors have particular appeal to mobile and cost-conscious small-business owners that need physical business addresses, phone and mail services, and on-demand office and meeting-room space. All the while, Reis reports traditional office vacancy rates are 17.2 percent nationally. Advantage: alternative workspaces.

“Increased market awareness and evolving business models are driving high demand for virtual office services,” says Martin Senn, COO of Davinci Virtual Office Solutions, a global provider of virtual offices and meeting space. “New sign-ups grew more than 50 percent in 2011, and the first quarter of 2012 suggests comparable growth going forward.”

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1871 opens next week as Chicago’s new digital start up center. 1871 features a massive coworking space for about 400 entrepreneurs, office space for leading venture capital firms, classroom space, and partnerships with leading universities.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the partnership with Excelerate Labs,” says Kevin Willer, president and CEO of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, which manages 1871. “Excelerate is a perfect match with the strategic objectives of 1871: strengthening Chicago’s digital community and helping to build great technology businesses.”

1871 is positioning itself as the place where Chicago’s digital start-ups get their start. It is a not-for-profit tech hub that provides Chicago’s start-up community with access to mentors, investors, partners and peers, as well as a wide array of programming, including classes, special events and conferences.

The 50,000 -square-foot facility, which offers one of the largest coworking areas I’ve ever seen, is located in the historic Merchandise Mart. The building can accommodate as many as 500 entrepreneurs, developers, designers and students in its co-working office space.

Three types of coworking memberships offer choices for entrepreneurs in different stages of building their businesses. Reserved coworking members have their own desks and storage; shared coworking members have round-the-clock access to the space; and night/weekend members have access in the evenings and on weekends.

Todd Heiser, design director at global architecture firm Gensler, designed the 1871 space. In doing so, his team visited incubators, accelerators, coworking spaces, even coffee shops—any place that could teach them how people were connecting, collaborating and getting work done in non-traditional workplace environments.

“We wanted to understand the ‘secret-sauce’ of how these highly compelling work spaces, from the amenities they offer to the entrepreneurs who use them, work,” Heiser says. “After meeting with the project stakeholders to gather feedback, we assembled our research into a vision document that would guide our work as we moved forward.”

If you are a startup in Chicago and you are into all things tech, here’s some advice: apply for a space in 1871 now before the spaces are filled.

Be sure to follow 1871 on Twitter.

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WinTech just launched a contest called “Who’s Alice?” The online contest for small business owners promises to deliver the winner a front desk makeover that features the new ALICE receptionist system.

ALICE is an acronym for “A Live Interactive Customer Experience.” The virtual receptionist service is trying to revolutionize the way businesses greet office space visitors. Essentially, the ALICE system is configured to connect visitors with your own employees. That means you can have a designated employee (receptionist) who take all visitor interactions, or you can have visitors use the employee directory to connect directly with the person they are there to see.

“ALICE Receptionist is an exciting new way for businesses to manage their office lobbies,” says WinTech Chief Technology Officer Mike Yoder. “ALICE uses motion detection technology to greet visitors as they enter a business building so visitors aren’t left to wonder. ALICE then notifies employees of the visitor’s arrival and facilities two-way video or audio communication between the visitor and the employee sitting at his or her desk.”

ALICE Receptionist does away with the “self-service” approach for clients who walk into a building. Instead, ALICE works to connect the visitor with a live employee immediately. Ultimately, ALICE gives executive office suites owners a new choice. Until now, serviced office space operators had to choose between having an unmanaged lobby or paying a full-time receptionist. ALICE offers a high-tech option in which companies continue to personally greet visitors—but for fraction of the cost.

WinTech, the maker of ALICE, says the virtual receptionist system is available in a variety of affordable packages—and most business report a 100 percent return on investment within the first four months. Savings add up quickly. WinTech reports a typical business will save tens of thousands of dollars year over year by using ALICE Receptionist to manage their office lobby.

Want to enter the online contest? Visit www.WhosAlice.com  to submit an entry. The contest ends on May 31, 2012. The winner will receive a complete ALICE Receptionist system, including hardware, software and the first year’s support and maintenance licenses.

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