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Serendipity Labs Brings Co-Working to the Suburbs

CHICAGO—The firm's downtown location is already full, with a long waiting list, and it now plans for ten locations in the suburbs.

By Brian J. Rogal | brianjrogal | | Updated on July 12, 2016

 

chi-SerendipityLabsStandard1 (3) Each Serendipity Labs location will have a welcoming atmosphere.
CHICAGO— Serendipity Labs Coworking  is ready to expand its services in the Chicago region, company officials tell GlobeSt.com. The New York-based firm opened a two-floor co-working and conference center at One South Wacker in Chicago’s CBD less than two years ago, and has just forged an exclusive franchise agreement to develop new sites throughout the suburbs. James Fangmeyer , co-founder and principal at Triumph Development LLC , has teamed with Matt Gresge , a former Fortune 250 senior executive and current Chicago-based entrepreneur, to form SL Chicagoland Development, LLC , which will open about ten suburban sites for Serendipity over the next five years or so. “We’re in the midst of a national expansion,” says John Arenas , chief executive officer of Serendipity Labs Coworking. And as an integral part of that expansion, Serendipity has adopted a hub-and-spoke strategy to “sell enterprise solutions for corporations that need both suburban and urban locations.” Serendipity Labs’ network now includes more than 100 locations in development, including new sites in the suburbs of New Jersey, Connecticut, and even secondary markets such as Miami. The Chicago hub at One South Wacker now has a long waiting list, and about 3,500 members, including Gresge, a suburban Chicago native. “We’re looking for suburbs that have great demographics, those with high degrees of affluence and entrepreneurship,” he says, such as Hinsdale, Naperville, Evanston, Wheaton, Winnetka, Lake Forest, and others. These towns “don’t have many office space options. We want to give the residents in these areas that are corporate executives the opportunity to work close to home.”  
chi-matt gresge Matt Gresge of SL Chicagoland Development LLC
The partners aren’t seeking out spaces in one particular type of building, adds Fangmeyer. They could select sites in anything from new developments to repurposed retail outlets. What he would like to see, however, are offices of roughly 15,000 square feet with a welcoming, first-floor presence, and upper-floor spaces that provide a certain degree of privacy. Proximity to rail lines will also be key, as well as sites that allow suburban members to walk to their gym, or complete other errands, without the hassle of driving. These Serendipity members “are typically at a point in their careers where they have flexibility,” he says. Each location will offer memberships for co-working access, day passes, dedicated workstations, private offices and team rooms. Members will be able to use the event space, worklounge, labcafe and meetup rooms, and participate in day-time and evening programming, meetups, and seminars to expand their professional network. And with the Serendipity Labs mobile app, Chicago members can book and check-in at all the other Serendipity Labs across the country. Alongside the executives from established corporations, which make up about 45% of Serendipity’s clientele, the spaces also attract self-employed professionals and some start-ups, says Arenas. “We’re looking to curate a diverse mix and ecosystem” at each location, unlike the providers in tech-heavy downtowns that sometimes focus on start-ups from the tech world. That attention to diversity gives Serendipity offices a different feel, says Fangmeyer. Around 40% of the members are women, a higher proportion than other co-working spaces. He partly attributes this to the company’s great emphasis on hospitality and openness. “It’s a very welcoming environment.”

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