Opinion: New Canaan Residents Find Coworking Services Next Door

The following op-ed was written by Greg Reilly and Office Suites of Darien:

Coworking is rapidly uptrending here in Fairfield County, across the country and around the world, and there have been recent conversations among New Canaan leaders about attracting a new coworking facility to open here.

With all the current buzz around coworking some people could get the impression that sharing building space and working close to home, yet not in the home, is a new concept. It is not.

It is true that the concept of unrelated companies, work groups and startups sharing building space and a variety of technical and administrative services is making news and turning heads in the commercial real estate sector. In the U.S. alone the number of coworking spaces is expected to increase 47 percent from 4,043 in 2017 to 5,943 in 2021.

Newsfeeds are filled with reports about WeWork, a leader in the global space, as they wrestle with their massive growth, oust their free-spending CEO and work to right-size their aggressive spending habits. Regus has over 3,000 business centers in 120 countries.

Nearby, the Serendipity Labs franchise is popular in Stamford, and two shared working spaces expressly for women have opened recently in Darien – Hayvn and Everwell. There are a number of small groups of offices for unrelated businesses around New Canaan, but they are not known to have the centralized management and staff of true coworking facilities.

Within all that activity, dozens of New Canaan residents, along with Darien and Rowayton residents, have been utilizing the office space and administrative services at Office Suites of Darien over the course of their almost 20 years in business, just off Tokeneke Road.

The features that are driving today’s growth in coworking are the same features that have been driving Office Suites of Darien, also known as CoWorkDarien, and their success since 2000. Most notable are flexible leases, a range of office sizes for a range budgets, a professional setting, friendly and responsive management and concierge, meeting spaces, fast internet connectivity, proximity to town, train and Interstate, and free parking. On a personal level, tenants find a sense of community from exploring business ideas with other tenants and sharing some Monday morning chat in snack rooms.

New options

The newer aspects of coworking that are trending in the region are the same aspects that Office Suites Founder Llew Smith and his team have been presenting to clients and visitors for some time – particularly, choice of sit / stand desks, micro offices, part-time lease options, more open spaces, and simply more office units to meet the increasing demand from independent business people, the gig economy and remote workers. On top of all that, a wider offering of programs that brings the tenants together for learning, collaborating and socializing are increasingly popular across the coworking sector.

Office Suites of Darien, also known as CoWorkDarien, provides office space for a variety of companies under one roof with leases from two hours to two years. In addition to offices, spaces include five meeting rooms, three reception areas, three kitchens and one lunchroom. Amenities and services include mail and packages inbound and outbound, copies, scanning, catering, light Microsoft Office, stationery and supplies, general support and organizing small events, internet and phone, and greeting visitors. Contact Llew@osdarien.com, 203-655-2603.