Downtown shared workspace ready for use

MUNCIE – Want an office without all the expense of an office? And without taking up a table at a coffee shop all day?

Officials are hoping the Downtown Business Connector will appeal not only to Muncie innovators but also to people in town on business who need a work station, high-speed Internet and ... coffee.

“This is halfway between your home office and Starbucks,” said Ted Baker, executive director of the Innovation Connector business incubator, who has overseen the city’s efforts to establish the new Downtown Business Connector.

The Downtown Business Connector is part of several thousand square feet of city-owned space on the first floor of the Lofts at Roberts, the former Roberts Hotel on High Street. It’s just across from the Horizon Convention Center and the construction site for the new Courtyard by Marriott Hotel.

When Cincinnati-based developer Miller Valentine began renovating the former Roberts Hotel into apartments for people 55 years and older, the city contributed some facade restoration funding.

In exchange, the city got most of the first floor of the building — except for the former hotel lobby, which serves as entrance for the Lofts at Roberts — and began making plans for it.

During an open house set for 9-11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 21, Baker and the Muncie Redevelopment Commission, which has overseen the first-floor Roberts project, will unveil the new Downtown Business Connector.

The Star Press got an early look and found space inside the historic 1920s Roberts building that’s designed to appeal to young entrepreneurs and innovators who don’t want traditional office space but are ready to embrace shared, flexible space.

Rolling workstations and offices

A walk through the Downtown Business Connector emphasizes just how far the former Roberts Hotel has come since it closed in 2006.

The transformation of the first floor of the former hotel — undertaken by Pridemark Construction — includes offices for the Center for Vital Aging as well as former restaurant space that’s still not filled.

The Downtown Business Connector — including four private offices and three large shared workspaces — was built in what had been some of the most-used public spots in the old hotel.

Along High Street, two large spaces that had been meeting rooms feature rolling workstations and chairs. In the former hotel’s fireplace area, comfortable seating invites the facility’s users to pause and collaborate.

The private offices line the side of the building that faces the Lofts at Roberts’ parking lot with a view of the convention center and Courtyard by Marriott construction site.

MRC director Todd Donati will occupy one of these private offices, Baker said. In Donati’s office, a window from the hotel’s bar remains with the name “Flappers” still on the glass.

Daily and annual payments

The Downtown Business Connector will make its shared workspace available in two ways: $15 day passes or a $400 annual membership. That covers workspace and wireless access 7 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays. A DBC employee will also be on hand for a few hours each day.

The coffee, by the way, will come from The Caffeinery, a nearby downtown coffee shop. Baker said, and will fuel innovative thinking via a suggested monetary donation per cup.

Baker — whose Innovation Connector, across White River from downtown, is home to 25 businesses and organizations — and the MRC hope the blend of historic building and all-new, flexible workspace will prove appealing.

“We see so many professionals who don’t need an office but could work in space like this,” Baker said. “We blended the old and the new.”

Contact Keith Roysdon at 765-213-5828 and follow him on Twitter: @keithroysdon