has doubled down on what it believes is the future of office, opening its in central Denver.
The Denver-based shared workspace provider unveiled the 22,000-square-foot building last week, its 87 private offices at 1001 Bannock St. already about 50 percent leased and expected to be full by the end of the year, Shift founder and CEO Grant Barnhill said.
“Traditional office space in a lot of ways is really dead,” Barnhill said during a tour late last week. “People want a different work experience.”
For its Bannock campus, Shift transformed the into a sophisticated, hospitality-inspired office environment, the building’s original timber ceilings and brick walls mixed seamlessly with glassed-in offices and modern art.
A 2,000-square-foot outdoor deck with views of the Front Range crowns the building’s third floor, which was added as part of the renovations.
Inside, custom wallpaper covers the walls of private phone booths and small meeting rooms — one room was inspired by old electronics schematics found when Shift was cleaning out the building, while another is covered in tiny reproductions of Andy Warhol selfies.
“The aesthetic for Shift Bannock is sophisticated, warm and industrial…a significant departure from mass commoditized co-working spaces,” said Kirsten Brundage of , who collaborated with Barnhill on the design.
In the lobby, the bar is covered in vintage electronics salvaged from Fistell’s, which closed in 2014 after more than 50 years of business at 1001 Bannock St. The can be controlled via iPhone app.
The bar represents a tiny fraction of what was taken out of the building, Barnhill said. All told, Shift hauled away 55 semi loads of gear. (Another meeting room is covered in blown-up photos of what the building used to look like.)
“The building had stuff packed from the floor to the ceiling,” he said. “It was mayhem.”
And while has changed in the nearly three years it took to bring the Bannock project to market, particularly with the earlier this year, Barnhill believes there’s still plenty of room for growth.
A third Shift location could be part of a in Uptown. Barnhill said they are in negotiations with a New York boutique hotel developer to oversee the larger project, of which Shift would be a tenant.
“I think it is the future,” Barnhill said. “You go to places like the U.K., in London especially, and 20 percent of all the office space in London is shared office, office business centers. Design plays such a big role in workplace happiness.”
Right now, less than 1 percent of Denver’s office stock is shared workspace product, he said.
For companies, shared work space offers access to the , without the need to make a long-term lease commitment, he said.
Pricing at Shift starts at $279 a month for co-working space, $425 a month for a dedicated desk and $625 a month for a private office. The offices at the Bannock location can accommodate one to 10 people.
“People want to be able to be nimble and be flexible,” Barnhill said.
What sets Shift apart from other co-working providers in Denver, he said, is its focus on mid-career professionals.
“This isn’t a community where there are pingpong tables,” Barnhill said. “People come here to work. They want a different environment.”
