Because of the layoffs caused by the Great Recession, the number of entrepreneurs, independent developers, designers and self-employed people, particularly in the Milwaukee area, has been on the rise over the past few years.
We often see them in local coffee shops and bistros, trying desperately to find a quiet working space big enough for their meetings or praying the in-house employees will delay the grinders and espresso makers long enough to get another client phone call in.
William Waldren, a Milwaukee native and founder of the Hudson Business Lounge, wanted to specifically serve those people.
“We wanted to offer an alternative solution for those people who were stuck working in coffee shops or out of their homes every day,” Waldren said. “We’re developing a convenient alternative that hopefully will allow for a lot of visual interaction and accessible networking for self-employed individuals who might not have an avenue like that.”
Waldren plans to open The Hudson Business Lounge in a 9,000-square-foot space in Milwaukee’s Pritzlaff Building on the southwest corner of Plankington and St. Paul Avenues near downtown Milwaukee.
The lounge will be a prototype for future expansion and will feature a combination of working spaces including private offices, cubicles, brainstorming tables, conference rooms, and additional space for long term office locations as well as an espresso/wine bar, Waldren said.
Waldren is targeting small businesses and independent workers across all industries including medical transcribers, web developers, entrepreneurs, real estate agents, and independent lawyers.
“It’s going to be a very wide open collaborative space with 16-foot ceilings that build out into private offices and raised areas for brainstorming and working,” Waldren said. “My design has a very contemporary feel, but it’s also very raw and a cozy place to foster productivity.”
The espresso/wine bar will occupy about 2,500 square feet and be open to the public, and the working space and lobby area will take up around 7,000 square feet on the first floor of the building. Additional space on the second floor will be available for future expansion providing space for long term office-pod rentals on an as needed basis, Waldren said.
Waldren, who has a background in interior design and previously worked for Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, has outlined the design of the space and hopes to begin the build out sometime in April. He is working closely with Sunset Investors, the property owner of the Pritzlaff Building, to work on the build out.
“The Hudson project will have the first floor space on the corner of Plankington and St. Paul with pretty high visibility with the first floor storefront windows,” said Kendall Breunig of Sunset Investors. “Construction on the build-out will start in the next few weeks and while there is no real solid timeline we’re hoping he’ll be up and running sometime before August.”
Both Waldren and Breunig hope The Hudson Business Lounge will act as a catalyst to draw more people to the area and attract more businesses to the Pritzlaff building.
“It’s such a great location for something like this,” Waldren said. “We think the location’s proximity to the Third Ward, the freeway exit ramps, and the train station will provide for a lot of new traffic to the area and will drive more connections among users.”
In addition to providing working space and equipment for members of the Hudson business Lounge, Waldren wants to make connections among self-employed individuals and provide them with opportunities to learn from world-class speakers and presentations.
“We’re planning to host events and speakers at the Lounge as much as we can,” Waldren said. “This is a prototype for something much bigger, and the meat and potatoes of this model is connecting people with each other and providing opportunity for networking.”
Individuals can sign on to be members of the Hudson Business Lounge for as little as $55 a month, Waldren said. The membership gives an individual access to quiet and convenient working space, conference rooms, VOIP phone systems, internet access, printers, copiers and fax machines and access to other members in the system, he added.
“As a member we’ll give you access to the customized internal Hudson network and a keycard to access the space,” Waldren said.
Members will use a key card to enter the lounge and then will have the option to check-in, Waldren said.
“The whole idea is connecting people to others who might be potential resources on business deals or getting started. We want to develop this co-working site as a true community that provides opportunity for business growth that self-employed individuals working from their home or a coffee shop wouldn’t get.”
The Lounge will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology, projection and conference equipment.
Waldren is also working out pricing models for members of the general public to utilize the space and the conference rooms on an as needed basis.
“The Espresso/Wine Bar will be open to the public, but we’re also hoping to allow for people traveling to Milwaukee or maybe those that just need a bigger conference room for a private meeting to rent out the facility on an as-needed basis,” Waldren said.
Waldren hopes the Hudson Business Lounge will be open for business this summer and within 24 months he hopes to expand the model to other cities throughout the Midwest and beyond, he said.
“Once we launch the Hudson here in Milwaukee, my goal is to create a series of these across the country, starting first with Chicago, Minneapolis and Indianapolis,” he said. “Members will be able to use their access card and utilize a familiar setting and conference rooms while they are traveling for business or pleasure.”
According to Waldren, Hudson Business Lounges across the country will be adapted to fit the culture of the city they are located in, but the look and feel for each will be relatively the same so individuals know what to expect when using The Hudson space in another city.
“As far as we can tell we’re the only ones doing something like this, and ideally we’d like to be on the forefront of creating spaces like this all across the country,” he said. “The objective of the space is to allow people to work the way they want to work and help them grow their business beyond what they could have done on their own.”
For more information or to see more renderings of The Hudson visit www.thehudson.org.
