MINNEAPOLIS—As reported in GlobeSt.com, Assemble Shared Office has opened several spaces in Chicago for startups and small businesses, and now seems ready to spread its services across the US. In September, the firm will open a Minneapolis location in the historic 15 Building at 15 S. Fifth St. on the north end of downtown, with Miami, Raleigh and even more locations in Chicago up next.

“As we took a broad look across the country, Minneapolis popped right up and hit all of our criteria,” Phil Domenico, co-founder of Assemble, tells GlobeSt.com. The north edge of downtown, especially, had just the right mixture of tech firms, incubators, retailers, strong demographics and a live/work/play atmosphere that attracts a critical mass of start-up firms. As an added bonus, 15 Building is adjacent to the city's Warehouse District. Once a gritty industrial area, the neighborhood is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and hosts coffee shops, restaurants, bars, art galleries and thousands of new residents.

Occasionally, cities that meet Assemble's criteria on paper don't pass a personal inspection. Charlotte, NC, seemed like it could be a good fit, but the banking and financial center turned out to be a little too strait-laced. “We went and toured neighborhoods and buildings and ended up asking, 'where are all the tech companies?'” Domenico says. Nearby Raleigh, on the other hand, is a hub for technology firms, many of which draw employees and energy from the local universities. “The same holds true for Minneapolis.”