Alex Simic, founder of Brookfield-based Storage Master LLC, has started a new venture converting vacant buildings into coworking office space, hoping to open 120,000 square feet of space in three buildings in the coming months.
Simic sold 1 million square feet of self storage space for $125 million in 2021. Now he’s reinvesting the money as Better Cowork LLC.
“What I’m looking to do is buy properties and reposition them, gutting the interiors and starting from scratch,” said Simic, principal of Better Cowork.
The spaces will be renovated to have a variety of spaces with open spaces, meeting spaces, private offices and suites. The renovation will include new technology and furniture throughout.
“I’m building something you would find at a Fortune 500 company,” Simic said.
Better Cowork currently has three renovations in progress in Waukesha County, which will offer a total of 750 workstations when complete:
- A former Inlanta Mortgage office building at W239N3490 Pewaukee Road in Pewaukee, which Better Cowork bought for $3.2 million. Intlanta began winding down operations in November. This location is set to open in October.
- A former Advocate Aurora Clinic at 12500 W. Bluemound Road in Elm Grove, which Better Cowork bought for $1.5 million. Simic anticipates this location will open in January.
- Most recently, Better Cowork purchased a former Boston Store Furniture Gallery at 18615 W. Bluemound Road in Brookfield for $1.35 million. Simic aims to open this location next spring. The 55,000 square-foot building has been empty for eight years.
Simic said he’s generally looking for buildings that are over 25,000 square feet because part of the idea of coworking is creating class A office space that can be rented at class B prices.
“But you need scale, so that’s why you need larger buildings,” Simic said.
He’s also looking for buildings that are close to other amenities like shopping and restaurants.
“There’s a lot of discussion about real estate, waiting for the next shoe to drop,” Simic said. “I think for class A, well located properties, they will always perform and that’s why I’m very selective in terms of location and make sure that I make the internal investment to a very high standard.”
Demand for coworking space will continue to increase, according to Simic, as when, where and how people work continues to shift in the wake of the pandemic.
“It’s part of the general theme of workers having more say in terms of where and how they work,” said Simic. “…There’s a lot of class B and C office space in Wisconsin that people don’t really want to go work in.”
Simic said that, nationally, about half of coworking spaces are filled by larger corporate customers who have a presence, but no office, in a city, and the other half if filled by small businesses or entrepreneurs.
Better Cowork will continue to own the coworking spaces and rent them out month-to-month, which Simic said makes coworking office space more flexible and set it apart from conventional office leasing.
