Tech check: Bike & Type cowoking space

Yossi Langer works for his California-based technology company remotely from the Bike and Type workspace on Tuesday morning. Langer is from out of town and is in Missoula visiting family. "I needed to get out of the house to work," he said.

Bike & Type

New coworking spaces in downtown Missoula

DAVID ERICKSON

david.erickson@missoulian.com

A Missoula entrepreneur is hoping to cut down on car traffic in the downtown area by opening new coworking spaces in historic buildings.

Nick Caras recently opened the new Bike & Type coworking facility at 415 N. Higgins Ave., which can accommodate 60-70 users. He’s also in the design phase for another coworking space in the lower level of the Hammond Building at 101 S. Higgins and that should be open this fall, 12 MISSOULA BUSINESS • SUMMER 2020 with room for perhaps as many as 200 workers.

“Inexpensive office space is in demand, especially downtown, and we saw this as kind of a creative solution to that,” Caras explained. “I toured a WeWork (coworking space) a few years ago and always thought it was cool. I think it’s going to be a fun spot.”

He and his team rapidly remodeled the building at 415 N. Higgins, which was built in 1911 and features an alley that connects West Pine Street with the former Old Post Pub parking lot. He’s turned that into an outdoor office space, and he’s got inside offices, conference rooms, private rentable desks and a break room.

With the rise in work-from-home and remote work across the United States, coworking spaces have become increasingly popular as a way for people to socialize, have an office to meet clients and use office services. The Bike & Type features fiber internet, a receptionist that can direct clients, secure entry and Thursday night meet-and-greets featuring local beer in kegs from Worden’s Market just steps away.

“This alley had always been kind of vacant and a den of vice,” Caras jokes. “But I thought it was really cool and kind of European-feeling, so I wanted to do something with it. We’re going to use it as event space so people can do their wedding or throw parties here."

Then, during the day it’ll be an outdoor coworking space, he said.

"And then we have one more large space inside, kind of like a quiet area. It’s still under construction/remodel.”

The alley is now strung up with bare-bulb lights and Caras set up some speakers. The Witch of the Woods Tattoo parlor rented one of the spots in the alley recently.

“We’re looking for partnerships with artists to use the space more or maybe even do murals,” he added.

There are already about 50 microoffices in the building with a wide variety of tenants. Caras said he’s had a lot of interest in the new coworking spots, from architecture to financial workers.

“A virtual office is $60 a month, and that gets you a mailing address and three days of use of the office per month and you can rent conference rooms,” Caras said. “The coworking membership is $150 a month, and that gets you 24- hour access to the space. You can get a dedicated lockable desk for $250, and private offices start at $350 and go up from there.”

He plans on trying to find a coffee/ pastry cart to utilize the space in the future.

Caras has even bigger plans for the lower level of the Hammond building. He intends to build a secure bike-storage facility with showers that can be used by people renting coworking spaces there or simply office workers anywhere in downtown Missoula that don’t want to deal with traffic and parking a car on their commute. He’s also planning to perhaps work with El Cazador Mexican restaurant to offer food and beverage service there and might have an outdoor courtyard as well.

Pam Udall does advocacy and outreach on behalf of Texas physicians, and she recently rented a space at Bike & Type.

“I live in Missoula, but I work in Austin, Texas,” she said. “I’ve been spending part of my time there and part here for the last year, but since COVID I’ve been in Missoula since March full-time. I spent the first three months working from home, and it got monotonous. I felt my productivity was falling. I need people around me. I need to get dressed and have more structure in the workday. So I’m glad Nick did this.”

She said even a half day in a regular office-style work environment will make her more productive than an entire day sitting at home in front of her computer.

“It allows me to get structure, and see people and actually get social interaction besides my cat,” she said, laughing. “(Bike & Type) has a good atmosphere. I’m excited to ride my bike downtown and get my coffee and interact again. I’ve been isolated for three months, so I’m looking forward to getting some normalcy.”

She said Austin has "more corporatestyle" coworking places so she's glad to have a locally-owned spot. "Nick's place is great," she said. "It's open, there's a good vibe to it. They provide everything you need. It's good to come back home from work. If you use your home from work, you can't create a balance. You want a work place and a home space."

Caras said he's gotten positive reactions from the users he's renting to so far. "The timing might be terrible for this, but it also might be good because there's probably a lot of users that want to get out of the house and get away from their kids after the pandemic," he said. "Plus, I have the outdoor space for that."

A sign for Bike & Type hangs on the newly remodeled alleyway, which became part of the expansion of the business.