Collaborate and Connect: Metro-style co-working lounge set to open in Missoula
With craft beer on tap and the ideas flowing, developers of an upscale office lounge in Old Sawmill District picked the right place to publicly unveil their product, the first of its kind in Missoula.
As local entrepreneurs, the self-employed and other business leaders gathered for the Hellgate Venture Network’s monthly social, Linnea Stanhope of Old Sawmill District said they were the office lounge’s ideal clients.
“Co-working in the urban markets is really big, almost to the point where it’s saturated,” Stanhope said. “But in these tertiary markets like Missoula, it’s just getting started, and we’re really thinking the time is right here.”
Their assessment may be on target, as Missoula has emerged on the national landscape as a burgeoning tech hub and entrepreneurial hotbed.
“Our space is really for this fledgling startup community in Missoula,” Stanhope said. “Today, a lot of people would probably be in cafes, the library or some other place. So basically, this pulls them out of those areas into one beautifully designed, curated space that has a lot of business and support services.”
Dubbed the C3 WorkLounge for connect, create and collaborate, the product provides a range of services, from mobile access and charging stations to a kitchen, phone booths and conference rooms with smartboard technology and whiteboards.
The C3 WorkLounge will open this August in Cambium Place, the latest building to rise in Old Sawmill District. The structure will include a fitness center and neighborhood market, along with what Stanhope has described as high-end, rent-by-choice apartments.
Tucked on the ground floor, the C3 WorkLounge will include 3,000 square feet of shared office space. That’s likely to include enough desks, couches and chairs to seat up to 50 people, along with a dozen dedicated desks and offices.