B U I L D I N G

Beyond the Cafe

Capsity rents office space by the hour, day or month
O U R F U T U R E

By Julie Foster

I
solation, a lack of focus and
little to no interaction with
other people are not what most
people expect when they set up a
home-based business. But sooner or
later, most people who work out of
their homes, whether as software
developers, insurance agents or
writers, need to get out of the house
and mingle with others.
Over the past few years,
neighborhood coffee shops became
a good option for sole proprietors
who had forgone the traditional
office culture. The proliferation of
coffeehouses with Wi-Fi made it easy
for the self-employed to grab a cup of
coffee, plop down with a computer,
get some work done and even engage
in a conversation or two. But this cafe
model has drawbacks. The need might
arise for private office space, to print
out a set of documents, or even a real
desk rather than a tipsy little table.
Ricardo Robles and Jeff Louie

The idea is renting,

for a small fee, a
cooperative office
or work space on
an hourly, daily or
monthly basis.
Two years ago, Business Week
magazine explored this dilemma in a
story called “Where the Coffee Shop
Meets the Cubicle.” It chronicled
an innovative solution that was
blossoming around the country:
the idea of renting for a small fee a
cooperative office or work space on an
hourly, daily or monthly basis. The
tenant would have access to standard
office amenities, including a shared
kitchen, private meeting rooms, a
lounge and, most importantly, other
people.
Cities around the country have
embraced the concept of cooperative
office space. Denver has The Hive.
Toronto has Camaraderie. San
Francisco has The Hat Factory and
The Grotto. And Sacramento has
Capsity Offices, located at 2321 P
Street.
Ricardo Robles and Jeff Louie, the
founders of Capsity Offices,
fi began
managing the two-story Midtown
office building in September 2008.
Robles graduated from Sacramento
State University in 2008 with a degree
in business entrepreneurship; Louie
graduated from UC Berkeley in 2004
with a degree in interdisciplinary
studies. They met and became friends
when both were working at other
jobs. They soon became business
partners.
Initially, they planned to use the P
Street offices to offer “virtual” office
fi
space—a business address, phone
services and meeting rooms—for
home-based business owners. But
they soon began to explore ways
to use the space more efficiently
fi
and create more opportunities for
interaction among tenants.
According to Capsity’s website,
the spaces are like “entrepreneurial
fueling stations” that allow people
to communicate, share ideas and
incubate projects.

June•2009 40 Inside The City

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Sacramento’s Premier Collisio

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Family Owned Since 1948

Specializing In All Makes and Models

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Capsity's doors are open to local entrepreneurs who need an office or just a place to
receive mail and meet with clients
rvi ng Sa ear
delineation Se s
between the
two worlds
and makes
her look more
professional.
And, she says, 454.4433
the communal 1717 Sttockton Blvd • bertoluccis.com
environment
provides her
with a valuable
to the community and people can
boost.
“People
keep in touch with more projects and
different events happening in the
Unconditional
are more
productive
community.”
Robles says has been surprised
love.
and focused
by how little is known about the
here,” she says.
cooperative work space model and its
“You can drop
underutilization in Sacramento. But
in for a few
with the downturn in the economy
hours and get
and many landlords facing hard times,
the hard stuff
the model of renting to numerous
done. And the
small business owners rather than
flow of ideas
one corporation or business might
around here is
become more popular. Their own plan
so positive.”
has worked so well that Robles and
Capsity
Louie are opening a second location:
offers space
Jessica Chapman of Room to Breathe is one of the tenants a daycare/co-working space in Curtis
for rent by the
Park.
hour, day or
Most Capsity tenants are
month. Drop-ins are welcome. Capsity
independent contractors or sole The last Friday of every month,
provides office supplies, phone and
proprietors, including Rainbow Capsity Offices offers free co-working
Health Care, Midtown Grid, the
Internet service, an onsite notary
space to anyone who wants to stop by
saccityshelter.com
public, tech support, even beverages.
Romanian Chamber of Commerce, Dr.
Headphones, flat-screen monitors and
and give it try. For more information sspca.org
Amy Brown and Jessica Chapman,
whose business, Room to Breathe,
webcams are available to rent.
on Capsity Offices, go to casityoffices.
fi happytails.org
com or call 341-0400.
offers professional organizing services
“Co-working is a model we are saccountyshelter.net
really excited about,” Louie explains.
for businesses and offifices. Even Julie Foster can be reached at
“It is based on the cafe model but
though Chapman still does some work julieincarme@hotmail.com. l Brought to you by the animal lovers at
brings it up into the office
fi setting.
from home, her office space gives her
This way, everyone’s skill set is added INSIDE PUBLICATIONS

June•2009 41 Inside The City