BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC |The push for Lower Manhattan to be a beacon for tech and creative firms continues with the Downtown Alliance opening a new event and meeting space Wednesday.
Called Lower Manhattan HQ, or LMHQ, the new modern and bright space at 150 Broadway offers conference rooms, long tables for collaborative work, walls that can be scribbled on and, of course, a coffee bar.
For five years, Daria Siegel ran the Alliance’s Hive at 55 at 55 Broad St., which offered dedicated workspace. The Hive closed in January and Siegel is now the director of LMHQ.
She said LMHQ is a pivot from the Hive, as “we didn’t really want to be in the co-working business anymore. There’s so many people offering co-working spaces today. So we really wanted to figure out what the demands were today and how we could help support the innovation economy Downtown.”
There is a huge demand for event space, Siegel explained, and the Hive could only hold 40 people. The new center can accommodate up to 140. During the day, it will be a “living room” cafe environment and in the evenings the space can be rearranged for events, said Siegel.
“Additionally, with the influx of creative tenants moving to Lower Manhattan, we wanted to create a sense of community for them.” Siegel said. That was the thing that was still missing Downtown — they were kind of siloed in their office spaces and don’t have chances to interact.”
Siegel called the new space an annex to people’s offices — a place people can take a meeting, grab a coffee, arrange an event, work or brainstorm.
“We all recognize that we’ve changed the way that we work — that we don’t just work sitting at our desks anymore,” said Siegel. “You want to get out and meet with people and network.”
Who needs white dry erase boards, when there are walls and columns, plied with IdeaPaint, you can write on? The mural in the main room has been drawn in black and white so people can fill it in, said Siegel.
Siegel said they spent a year looking for the right space, but construction took about three months.
“It took a long time to come up with the right aesthetic,” she said. “The furniture and design of the space was really critical — that we offer those opportunities to have collaborations and serendipitous interactions.”
A $2.5 million grant from the state went to construction. The Alliance is subsidizing the operating costs with the hope that membership will ultimately support LMHQ, said Siegel.
It is $160 a month for an individual and $8,000 for an annual corporate membership with access for five people. A conference room — some named after Lower Manhattan luminaries old and new like Horace Greeley and Frank Gehry — costs $50 an hour. The largest costs $125. There is a drop-in rate of $30 a day.
“I think we’ll see a real demand…because so many people are doing business in Lower Manhattan,” said Siegel.
There are 800 companies — in tech, advertising, media and information — that are making their home in Lower Manhattan, according to the Alliance.
Microsoft outfitted LMHQ with Surface tablets, Xbox One consoles and Skype. There will be a fulltime IT department, she said, to make sure WiFi is up and running and to do troubleshooting as needed.
Siegel stressed that it is not a private club but rather a community space and there will be events that are open to the public. LMHQ’s opening festival is called #OFFSITE and there are several free programs being offered from Wednesday through Fri., June 26. Siegel said over 2,5000 had R.S.V.P. for the festival.
