An Albuquerque company that specializes in co-working space may soon be repurposing an existing building 30 miles to the east of the city in order to create yet more space.
Fat Pipe ABQ has been in business for the better part of a decade, providing office space for any number of businesses in three locations.
Offering working space on a daily and weekly basis, the company hopes to open a new facility at 215 Cowboy Way in Edgewood in a 6,000 square foot building it purchased recently for around $408,000.
As with its other locations, the new Fat Pipe space will include multi-media equipment, Internet infrastructure, and conference space.
Plans call for the creation of half a dozen private offices, as well as single person offices and open-style seating.
The two-story concrete and steel building that Fat Pipe is taking over was built in 2009 and formerly served as the headquarters for the Single Action Shooting Society.
Fat Pipe ABQ was launched in the summer of 2014 as a startup incubator, opening its first location on Broadway Boulevard across the street from the massive Innovate ABQ site, which was in still in development at the time.
Co-working spaces initially became prominent in Europe in the 1990s, but saw an explosion of growth in the U.S. in the last 15 years or so, appealing in particular to young entrepreneurs not yet ready to open their own offices.
Such spaces are typically carved out of existing buildings and, according to industry statistics, usually measure just under 10,000 square feet.
While the co-working movement has taken a hit this year from the pandemic economy, new co-working spaces continue to be in demand, with such facilities opening just this month alone in Buffalo, Baltimore, and Bellaire, Texas, among other cities.
By Garry Boulard