'Project Mosaic' pieces together office space for Batavia businesses
A downtown Batavia office building recently lost a tenant, and so has space it needs to rent out.
Proprietors of home-based and startup businesses have told the Batavia MainStreet director they could use a little office space.
The two needs may be met in a building at 201 Houston St. in downtown Batavia, in Project Mosaic.
MainStreet is promoting a potential cooperative arrangement - instead of looking to rent the first floor to one business, offer it to smaller ones which would share a conference room and break room.
Five people toured the space last week and more have been e-mailing Britta McKenna, executive director of the MainStreet business vitality program. She will conduct another tour at 8:30 a.m. today.
A minimum of eight businesses are needed to make the plan happen. There are 10 spaces available.
"It's a nice central location," McKenna points out. The three-story building is a block east of Route 31, next to the Batavia Depot Museum and a block away from the Batavia Government Center.
The space was formerly occupied by 12 workers from Country Companies Insurance.
In March, McKenna visited the building during a routine survey of available commercial and office space in downtown Batavia. It struck her that the insurance office space, featuring individual rooms with locking doors, would be ideal for small businesses.
"I had this idea it could be kind of like a Water Street Studio for business," she said. Water Street Studio is an artists' cooperative on South Water Street.
McKenna said she often hears from home-based businesspeople that they are tired of conducting meetings in coffee shops, that they need some motivation or stimulation from other people, and that they just need to get out of the house.
"I'd rather keep businesses here, and hope they grow and stay in the downtown," McKenna said.
Monthly rents would range from $200 to $450 a month, depending on the square footage and whether the office has a window. It includes wireless Internet, gas, water and electricity. Tenants would work out how to use the break and conference rooms. It would be up to them to decide if they want to hire a receptionist or office assistant.
Interested businesses can contact McKenna at (630) 761-3528 or send her e-mail at britta@downtownbatavia.com.
Deposits are due June 1, and the space will be ready for occupancy July 1.
McKenna thinks the space would be ideal for graphic designers, Web designers, accountants, secretarial services, lawyers, insurance agents, videographers, writers, advertising, virtual office support and marketing firms. She envisions a collaborative and creative environment ensuing, with tenants building relationships and referring business to each other.
"You've got to be creative in this economy," she said.