Megan Elcrat's Hampden home was a fine place to run her one-woman architecture business — for a while. But when her husband, Phillip Jones, decided to join the firm, this design duo decided they needed an actual office.
A year and a half later, they've created more than just an office for their firm, 33:Design. They bought a former insurance office at 2209 Maryland Ave. in Baltimore's Old Goucher neighborhood and turned it into Co_Lab, a co-working space that can accommodate 24 people, including Elcrat and Jones.
With a modern design and lots of open space, Co_Lab hopes to attract a mix of nonprofits, independent designers and small businesses, while neighborhood leaders hope the shared offices will help propel their efforts to revitalize Old Goucher. The neighborhood has gotten less attention than its neighbors to the north and south — Charles Village, Remington, Station North — where development is booming.
"Part of the challenge we face, and I think have met successfully, is starting to brand ourselves and create a cohesive identity," said Kelly Cross, the president of the Old Goucher Community Association.
In March, the community association finished a plan for the neighborhood that emphasizes sustainability, green spaces, retail and restaurants in a diverse, creative community.
Cross said places like Co_Lab that could attract new businesses and encourage more foot traffic in the neighborhood are what Old Goucher needs to turn that vision into reality.
Elcrat and Jones are excited about that possibility. They plan to put a design and architecture bookstore at the front of the property, facing Maryland Avenue, and are encouraging tenants to bike or walk to work — to that end, Co_Lab is equipped with storage and a shower.
"This is such a great time to invest in this neighborhood," Elcrat said. "It's an interesting and exciting possibility that we might be able to bring design back to Old Goucher."
Co_Lab has 12 individual desks, eight larger L-shaped desks and four private offices. Monthly rates with a year lease range from $250 for an individual desk to $450 for an office.
Shared areas include a lounge, a conference room and a room for taking private phone calls. The kitchen has diner-style booths and bar-height tables Elcrat and Jones made from old bookshelves.
The couple plan to create a lactation room for new mothers in the basement.
Co-working spaces, an office trend fueled by a generation of freelancers, independent contractors and entrepreneurs who want some space but not a lot, plus the benefit of a community, have been around for years. Their growth shows no sign of slowing down, according to the Global Coworking Survey by Deskmag, an online magazine about co-working.
There were a total of 7,800 co-working spaces globally in 2015, up 36 percent from the year before, according to the survey.
Co_Lab is just the latest addition to Baltimore's co-working office inventory. There's Charles Village Exchange, a seven-desk operation in a rowhouse that opened in 2013. Impact Hub, in the Station North Arts District, caters to small companies and nonprofits with missions to give back to the community, as well as artists and designers.
Inside Power Plant Live at the Inner Harbor, the Cordish Cos.' Spark has been so popular since opening in January that it has expanded to additional floors. The co-working space was designed to capture the young startups that the city risks losing when they graduate from local business incubators and can't find affordable offices. Networking opportunities, discounts at Power Plant Live businesses, and a gourmet kitchen that connects to a cool lounge equipped with games are part of Spark's appeal.
Co_Lab, meanwhile, seeks to set itself apart by catering to everyday small companies. Elcrat and Jones might organize the occasional happy hour, but if — they stressed the "if" — they get a pingpong table, it will go in the basement.
Liz Cornish, the executive director of Bikemore, a bicycle advocacy group, was attracted to Co_Lab because of its location along an planned bike path that will run down Maryland Avenue, a project for which her group pushed.
The three-person nonprofit is among Co_Lab's first tenants. About nine desks are currently being leased.
Bikemore may not have fit in at a co-working space geared toward startups but feels at home among Co_Lab's bicyclist-friendly features, Cornish said. When clients or guests come for meetings, not only does Bikemore have a more professional setting than the corner coffee shop, but she can show business owners how to make their offices more conducive to biking to work by showing off Co_Lab's design, she said.
"There's a need to find affordable places for small businesses to grow," Cornish said.
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