If you’ve outgrown working from home or miss the camaraderie of being in an office with other people, SOAR Co-Working offers not only affordable workspaces for small businesses and remote employees, but a sense of community, too.
SOAR Co-Working, located in the Tampa Palms Professional Center near I-75, just off of the Bruce B. Downs Blvd. exit, brings workers together in an environment that provides many of the benefits of working in a traditional office, but at a much lower cost, and with some unexpected advantages.
“It’s a quiet, professional, serene space and has a beautiful deck that looks out over Primrose Lake,” says Tampa Palms Professional Center partner Gar Urette. “SOAR is about 4,500 square feet and is probably our premier space in the whole place,” which has a total of 140,000-sq.-ft. of mixed-use office space in 26 buildings.
While many think of the co-working model as shared space where people drop in as needed – and SOAR does offer that option – Gar says this location has turned out to be much more popular for people who want to rent an exclusive space on a monthly basis.
Clients can choose a private office with a door, a cubicle with locking filing cabinets and even a shared “hot space” (with an array of smaller cubicles). The private spaces can be personalized by the tenants for as long as they are leased, which could be for as little as a month or as long as a year, and those leases can be renewed.
That flexibility has created a comfortable office dynamic among people who go to work every day in the same office, grab coffee in the break room together, and ask about each other’s families, while working for different companies and organizations.
“It’s designed for people who want to get out of the house,” says Gar. “as well as for those who get tired of staring at the same four walls working from home and want a sense of community, or for those who have a road job and need someplace to sit and work or conduct meetings with clients, and don’t want to be meeting in their living room or at a Starbucks.”
For Jacey Feiler, an executive assistant for a marketing firm called Grow Nearby, coming to work every day at SOAR has been ideal. With a global team supporting the marketing firm’s operations, Grow Nearby’s U.S. team works out of SOAR.
“It’s way more affordable than renting an entire building,” Jacey says. “There are amenities we don’t have to pay for, like coffee and snacks, a beautiful deck outside, a free printing station, mailboxes, utilities and high-speed internet. All we have to worry about one small monthly payment and everything gets taken care of.”
Tampa Palms Professional Center marketing manager Amber Peterson oversees the co-working space. Jacey says that Amber goes above and beyond to ensure a positive environment.
Amber plans events to build community among the co-workers at SOAR, such as a pizza night or inviting everyone to share their favorite cookies for National Cookie Day.
“I feel like we’ve fostered a sense of community here,” Amber says. “I’m working hard to make sure everyone’s comfortable talking with me about issues or requests that come up. We can talk on a professional level, and I like connecting and getting to know people, too.”
There are currently three private offices with windows that overlook the lake, with two more to be added soon. There also are 18 large cubicles referred to as “dedicated desks,” as well as the shared “hot space” for eight more people on a first-come, first-served basis.
There also are two meeting rooms available by reservation, a break room with coffee and tea, bathrooms and the wraparound deck outside, which Amber says is great for taking a phone call or for eating lunch.
“Every membership has mail included with a business address at our space,” Amber adds, “and even our lowest tier includes use of the conference room for a couple of hours a month.”
She says clients love that the month-to-month commitment isn’t a long-term obligation.
But, in the few months since Aug. 1, when SOAR moved into the Tampa Palms Professional Center, Amber says, “We haven’t had anyone leave.”
Prior to the move, SOAR Co-Working had been located just down the road on Commerce Park Blvd., across from Freedom High. When that lease expired and the building’s owner didn’t allow SOAR to renew, SOAR’s founder and former owner retired. Instead of closing, SOAR moved into and became managed by the Professional Center.
It was a move that made sense. The Professional Center previously offered only larger spaces and longer-duration leases, with a minimum of a one-year rental.
“We used to have a symbiotic relationship, where if someone only needed a space for a couple of months, we’d send them to SOAR,” explains Gar, “and if someone at SOAR was growing and needed more space, they would send them to us.”
He adds that his team was already experienced at moving people around Tampa Palms Professional Center, upscaling and downscaling clients as needed, but couldn’t accommodate a part-time desk or monthly lease. That flexibility is available now.
And, of course, as SOAR co-workers’ businesses grow, if they need their own space, they can move seamlessly into the office park.
“I don’t know of any other coworking facility that is able to do that,” Gar says.
While Jacey says the dynamic is friendly and community-focused, it’s also respectful. “Seeing everyone being super passionate about what they do makes me want to work harder,” she says. “We all kind of feed off each other’s productivity.”
She adds that she feels lucky to work in a place where she likes to come to work every day.
And, Amber sees the dynamic in the space every day and wants to keep it that way.
“It’s so much like working in a traditional office,” she says, “but with people working for different companies. Sometimes I walk in and see people from three or four different businesses laughing in one person’s cubicle. It’s very uplifting.”
SOAR Co-Working is located at 17425 Bridge Hill Ct., Suite 100, in the Tampa Palms Professional Center. For more info, visit SOARCo-Working.com or call (813) 498-1932.
