Flexible workspaces available in Houston

Welcome back friends. So we're talking about how the office has been reinvented and Coco Dominguez, she's joining us with a look at a new space. Coco, can you tell us about it? Absolutely. I mean, working from home has its perks, but Sometimes you just want to get out of the house and feel the real world, feel that you're on the grind, and this is really one of many places here in the Houston area that has these new generational type office spaces. I'm here with Christine Vaughn, Community Manager for Urban Office. Thank you so much for your time. We're here at your Heights location, and I picked this one specifically because all kind of business owners and entrepreneurs, and we're looking right now, Vodcast Room Studios. Tell me a little bit about what Urban Office is. Offers are these types of spaces. Yeah, so Urban Office is a great place for entrepreneurs, startup communities, people that are just working from home that are looking for a separate space outside of their house that also have amenities that are included within the community. Yeah, we're actually in one of them right here. This is like a kitchen and all you can drink coffee and who can't have all you can drink coffee. And this is all included. I'm going to talk to some of the community members that came on by because I actually met somebody earlier that was doing a non-profit. They said They said they also had an office. But it's so much more, and some people think it's not attainable. It absolutely is. It absolutely is. We have a little bit of everything, and we know that it's not a one-size-fits-all. So there's different kinds of businesses, and we want to cater to those types of businesses that maybe don't think that they can get an office space. All right, because everyone is an entrepreneur. All right, Doug, let's kind of show this one. What is this right here that we're looking at? This is our podcast room at the West Heights location. So the nice thing about this is that it is very user-friendly. It's just you click a button, and it has video conferencing. It has the sound recording. It will be easy for anyone that is tech-savvy, not tech-savvy, but great to start a podcast or just film your first podcast. So how does it work? You rent this per time, per month? Yes, so we have a portal where people can book any of our conference rooms, our training rooms, our VR rooms, media rooms, and they're able to just book that, see where... Where, There is open time slots, and they can fill in their time from there. So is this, you have to have an office and you use this, or you can rent that directly? Just these specific rooms? So there's actually a couple of different types of memberships. We do have private offices, but there's not everyone that needs private offices. Some people might just need the media room. Oh, and this is the media room, Doug, and Photog, Doug, he's kind of shooting everything. Look how cool this area is. What can you do in here? So here's where you can film your podcast. You can also just have a small intimate meeting if you need to. We do have cameras in here that automatically turn towards whoever is speaking. So it will video and instructions like, yeah, you don't have to be like, help. It says media, studio media, how to. This is amazing. And how much growth have you seen from people? I mean, especially after the pandemic, people were wanting to get out of the house and they've started their own businesses. Jesus, so many people. I've seen a lot of people that start from our virtual office membership which is our smallest membership. They don't have an office and they grow all the way to some of our executive suites. Okay so let's come over here Doug and show this is kind of more of a standard office here on the right hand side. Yeah, so this is one of the offices that we have to choose from. Now, we have offices from, like, one person all the way to 10-plus executive suites that have multiple offices within an office. And whoever has this office, this is their own personal. Furniture. Nothing comes furnished. Correct. You can rent furniture from us if you would like to, but you are free to decorate this how you wish. Make it your own. Make it your style with whatever your business needs are. Okay. And so just looking down the hallway, I mean, there's different little sitting areas. And of course, these are people's personal businesses. So we can't just open the doors, but you can see then this one here at the Heights is actually two levels. Yes, we have two floors on this location. Okay, so, and I want to show you guys some other stuff here around, but I also want to stop really quickly and ask about you guys. What type of space do you have? I have a single office for a mental health therapist. I've always been happy to do mental health therapy. And so you are the owner, and you started with an office here. How great is it for you? Amazing, beyond words can say, because my clients love it. The environment is so good that it helps their mental health, And it helps me to stay like, Calm in order to focus. And look at all these amenities. What about you? What kind of business do you have? Same thing. I'm a mental health therapist as well. And that's my first startup office here. And so what are you enjoying about it? Or when you thought about, I'm going to get an office space. How is this kind of pairing up to that? Initially, I wasn't sure, and this was just so easy to rent a space and all the amenities, I think, make it so nice for my clients to be able to get a coffee, get a water. It's like you have your own kind of building here. Here, let me come around this side. What type, if you say mental health, too, I'm like, this is a setup. No, what do you have? No, I work in marketing for a tech company, actually. Okay, and so tell me about your experience. So I actually started during COVID. I was, I'm an extrovert and I work remotely 100% from home so I wanted to get out of the out of the house so I decided let me get my own co-share space and be able to meet other people and interact with other people and I love it. How great right you're like come on to my office guys what about you? I'm a financial advisor. Okay and you have your space is it your company or another company or you work for someone? No I have business partners and we have our own financial firm. So it's more of a boutique-style financial planning services. And how does it work for you? It's great. I have clients that come in. As I was talking earlier today, financial planning can be a little bit daunting. So to come in a space that's very casual, very approachable, it brings down a lot of barriers, and it helps clients just feel a little bit more comfortable talking about those kind of things that can be difficult at times. Yeah, I know. That makes so much sense. What about you? You actually have an office here on the next floor up. What type of business? We are in shipping industry, we are an ocean carrier, and we have several offices. Eight offices on the second floor. Okay, so you're like, I need all this for me. All right, thank you guys, and good luck. I'm so excited for all of you. This is a great space. And Christine, come on over here, because you were telling me about, look at all the snacks, guys. This is like, those you've got to buy. The coffee I think you're good on. So what is, this is a VR room? This is a VR room, yes. So this is just great for if anyone wants to take a little break. Enjoy. Oh, so it's, you can enjoy to play. Yes. Yes. So we have the VR set up right over here as well as a TV that you can plug into. As you can see, there's the little controllers. So this is an amenity. This is an amenity. Wow. Okay. So I thought it was something that you had to come in and pay for. No, it's part of the fun. It's just part of the fun. Okay. And guys, it gets more fun if you are a mom and you need your own room. This, I love this. You have a mom room. This is a great private space. If you're needing a moment to yourself, you don't have to book this one either. It's open. You're welcome to utilize it. It does lock, so you do have that privacy. All right, and so tell me what you're hearing from people who have gotten this space for the very first time. Yeah, I mean, it can be scary jumping the gun and trying to get an office space, but really, like, a lot of people have found... Such a sense of community with people that they might have not ever expected to find. So we've seen a lot of people just growing their small business to something bigger than they ever imagined. It's got to be inspirational. You're around other people who are doing the same thing, maybe not the same industry. All right, let's talk pricing. Dun, dun, dun. Let's talk about that. Yeah, so our standard membership for a virtual office, that is $100 a month. That will give you like a mailbox. A virtual office. Yes. So what is that? Yeah, so you get a mailbox. You get an address as well as the use to our conference room as well as our meeting room. For $100 a month? $100 a month, yes. Okay, and then what about an actual space? Maybe your smallest. What is your smallest size space? So our smallest size space will be about 100 square feet. It does vary depending on which location you're at, but we try to keep it as affordable as possible to whatever you are needing with your business. What are some of those prices? They start at around like $600 a month, but we also do offer two months free for a 12-month lease. Oh, okay. Hello. Get you started. Where are you going and how big is the biggest that you have? Oh man, we have an office that is about 3,000 square feet and it has about four private offices within. Yeah, you own this thing after that. Oh my gosh. So guys, if you have been thinking, I need somewhere else to go outside of my home. I am a professional. I am a business owner. I want my own spot. You have to consider open spaces like this as small or as big as you want. Thank you so much, Christine. Thank you so much. All right, here at Urban Office, how many locations How many patients do you guys have? We have 11 in total. Okay. All right. So check them out if that is what you're looking for. you're looking for. I'm telling you, this is a part of your future. I'm Coco Dominguez reporting. It's Fox 26 News. That's so awesome, Coco. I love that. That has to be, I would be so lonely working from home. So I think it's great that you could be around friends. Yes, you're lonely at home. You're not lonely here. Look at all the people you can hang out with and all the coffee you can have unlimited. It's like a all you can drink lattes and cafes. Wait, that's what we're missing here. Coco is the coffee. That's for sure. Thanks for that report.