Cleveland’s cool coworking spaces: Area is following a national trend

By Marcia Pledger | The Plain Dealer | August 05, 2018 at 09:55 AM

Exposed brick walls. A coffee bar. Cool artwork. Trendy lighting and large comfy seating areas. These all sound like things found in a modern home, not in a place of employment.

But a growing number of traditional office buildings in Cleveland are being transformed into chic collaborative workplaces, called coworking spaces. They are joining the global trend of catering to individuals and companies that want relaxed work environments in a shared space, which sometimes means shared costs.

The popularity of the coworking space concept has risen steadily over the past decade, and by 2020 more than 26,000 spaces will be in use globally, according to Small Business Labs, which tracks trends in small businesses.

In the past three months alone, two new coworking spaces opened in Ohio City, joining the ranks of a handful of others dotting Cleveland’s professional landscape.