Blankspaces Coworking Space Set to Open in Playhouse District This Year

Blankspaces, one of pioneers in the coworking spaces concept and a leading voice in the global coworking community, is coming to Pasadena.

Architect Jerome Chang said a Pasadena location has long been on Blankspaces’ radar since he started the concept. Now he has secured a location at 600 East Colorado Boulevard, he is planning out what he thinks will among the largest of existing facilities in California.

“The Pasadena location, that should be our largest. We could fit about a hundred people in there,” Chang said. “You name it, we’ll have internet people, insurance brokers, lawyers, to customs brokers, writers, to graphic designers… you name it, everyone’s there.”

Chang started the concept of opening up conducive working environments for freelancers and like-minded entrepreneurs when he was looking for working space as an architect about three years ago.

“I was working in cafes and I noticed there were a lot of people like me who were working in cafes and libraries and public areas,” he said.

When the first Blankspace was set up in Wilshire in 2007, Chang saw for himself how the space could encourage people to “share ideas, collaborate, hire each other, or get coffee together.”

Later on, he stumbled on the term “coworking” during the buildout and realized that term embraced a lot of the same values he was trying to achieve.

Chang also is a co-founder of the League of Extraordinary Coworking Spaces, the first national network of coworking spaces, which helps Blankspaces members find haven in other towns worldwide. The League connects with over 20 brands in 45 locations around the globe.

Santa Monica became Chang’s second location after three years, while a downtown Los Angeles facility opened a year and a half ago. Pasadena’s Playhouse District will be the fourth location, close to Caltech as Chang wants to target the area’s academic and tech talent.

Chang says he makes certain that all Blankspace locations sit in an area with fast internet connections. All three California locations are located at or near major nodes and switches that not only connect the neighborhood, but the entire west coast.

Pasadena’s Blankspaces location will probably start construction later this year, and could open in the fourth quarter of 2015.

For more, visit http://www.blankspaces.com/