Office Space News
Portland Coworking Company Struggles to Keep Doors Open
Published June 3rd, 2009 by Jennifer LeClaire
For all the buzz about coworking, opening the doors to a facility where workers share space, share amenities and sometime share ideas is not an automatic win for alternative office developers.
Case in point: CubeSpace.
CubeSpace is facing a crisis of foreclosure proportions in Portland. Apparently CubeSpace is pretty popular, but not popular enough to make its rent obligations. In a blog post, the company said it hasn’t paid its rent since March and received an eviction notice in May.
If the owners, Eva and David Schweber, can’t strike a deal with their landlord, US Bank, they say they’ll be forced into corporate and professional bankruptcy.
“David and I have invested everything we have into CubeSpace: our savings, our investments, our retirement funds, our energy and most of all our hearts,” Eva wrote. “We are both skilled people and will likely find some way to pay our mortgage. But the idea of losing CubeSpace and our community is almost more than we can bear.”
The question is: What went wrong?
For starters, the owners admitted in their blog post that they company wasn’t self-sustainable financially. They were close to getting into the black, but apparently the husband-wife team was supplementing the bills with their personal finances. It’s not clear whether the duo thought they’d generate more revenue or had unrealistic hopes.
As the owners describe it, CubeSpace is a victim of the recession. But it may also be a matter of competition. CubeSpace is hardly the only coworking facility in Portland. Portland is a vital freelance community that has witnessed numerous coworking facilities rise up, including CoworkingPortland, Souk, Jelly and NedSpace, to name a few.
Could it be possible that CubeSpace merely wasn’t as attractive as its competitors? Is it possible that the company didn’t spend enough time marketing itself and its differences? Was it a lack of management skills, the wrong pricing strategy or some other culprit?
CubeSpace is still hoping to pull out a miracle, and we at aBetterOffice.com are rooting for them. We don’t like to see anybody in the alternative office space market shutter the doors. But this should serve as a lesson to others who are launching coworking facilities. Coworking is popular, but it’s not an automatic success.
Related posts:
- Coworking Offices Set to Open in Birmingham, Rochester The coworking movement is making its way across the nation....
- Portland Coworking Project Highlights Sustainable Development Mixed-use developments are a dime a dozen these days, but...
- Coworking Listings in the USA We have been getting a lot of traffic on aBetterOffice...
- Collective Turf Coworking Set to Open in Urbana If you live near Champaign-Urbana, Illinois and have been craving...
- Coworking Book Highlights Latest Office Trend “I’m Outta Here: How Coworking Is Making the Office Obsolete.”...
- Business Support Is Key to Coworking in Akron, OH I spoke with Kelly Brown a few weeks ago to...
- Coworking from the mouths of coworkers Coworking is quite a bit different concept than executive offices...
- Affinity Lab: A Coworking Pioneer Thrives in Recession When I hear the word coworking, the first thing that...
About the Author
Rob Zeus June 3rd, 2009 at 9:16 am
Sounds to me like there was definitely a disconnect somewhere. If you can’t make it in Portland as a coworking facility, I’m not sure where you could make it. It’s hard to tell based on the information they shared what the problem for this coworking facility was. I will say this: their website isn’t as nice as the other companies.
Maggie Correta June 3rd, 2009 at 9:24 am
I also went to their website. The letter from the owners of CubeSpace is heartbreaking at some level. It’s also unprofessional in some sense. Too personal for my taste. I am not sure what went wrong with this coworking office space either. But it seems more like a mom and pop deal than a true entrepreneurial spirit that understands the needs of the market.
Bill Brookshire June 3rd, 2009 at 9:35 am
It could just be the location of the coworking facility that ultimately led to its troubles. Portland is a pretty big city. Maybe CubeSpace chose a less than ideal location to set up shop. I think coworking is a proven model in Portland based on the articles I’ve read, so there’s definitely something wrong here.
Melanie Jones June 3rd, 2009 at 10:45 am
It could be that CubeSpace made too large of an upfront investment in its coworking facility. One thing is certain, they company didn’t spend too much on a website. If the coworking space is anything like its website, I can see why people would go to other brands. Websites are so vital, especially with cutting-edge concepts like coworking.
Elizabeth Sanchez June 3rd, 2009 at 10:51 am
l like the bottom line here: coworking is popular, but it’s not an automatic success. I don’t get the idea that the owners of CubeSpace thought it would be. They seemed to pour their heart and soul into the concept. It may just be a lack of business experience that caused them trouble. Coworking, like any other real estate play, requires some savvy.