Denver’s co-working community is growing again, with the addition of another 71,300 square feet in collaborative office space over the next 10 months.
Shift Workspaces on Wednesday announced plans to invest $30 million to expand its campus in Alamo Placita and open two new locations: one in the Golden Triangle and the other at the old Cathedral High School in Uptown.
By the time work is done early next year, Shift’s footprint will be more than 4½ times larger than it is today — the latest in a series of expansions in alternative office space in Denver.
“There’s a paradigm shift that’s happening with how people work that’s a lot bigger than anyone realizes,” said Shift CEO and founder Grant Barnhill.
Work has already begun on what will become Shift’s second location, a 22,000-square-foot facility at 1001 Bannock St. in the Golden Triangle. Scheduled to open in February, Shift Bannock will house 87 private offices, 2,000 square feet in co-working space, seven conference rooms and other amenities, including a rooftop deck with outdoor kitchen/bar.
At the Corona campus, 383 Corona St., construction will begin in June on a 4,332-square-foot addition, utilizing an existing parking lot to create 19 more private offices, covered parking and a 2,000-square-foot rooftop deck. The current space houses 50 private offices, 20 private desks, 2,000 square feet in co-working space, conference rooms and other amenities.
The final project, at Cathedral High, should get underway in August and open in March, Barnhill said.
The historic property, which was the source of community uproar after an earlier developer proposed demolition, will be preserved and renovated. Plans call for the renovation of 45,000 square feet across three buildings. In the end, there will be 130 private offices, 3,500 square feet of co-working space and nine conference rooms, as well as an indoor/outdoor event space for 250 people, a 2,200-square-foot restaurant and bar space, and a 10,000-square-foot walled private courtyard.
Barnhill said he expects the new spaces to be close to 100 percent leased by the time they open. A 2014 expansion at Shift Corona that added 13 private offices was full in two months.
And while co-working spaces still make up just a fraction of the overall commercial office market, Denver is now seeing “some really significant square footage,” said Jessica Ostermick, CBRE Research’s director of research and analysis.
“It’s kind of maturing — that’s probably a good word for it,” Ostermick said. “We haven’t seen the end of it. It’s a bit of a cultural shift, a fundamental change in the options for work environments.”
Emilie Rusch: 303-954-2457, erusch@denverpost.com or twitter.com/emilierusch