Smart co-working office coming to Larchmont Village: Yoube to open in new mixed-use building
A SMART OFFICE, Yoube, is planned at 5570 Melrose Ave. Pictured, left to right, are building developer Mishel Mikail with Jenny Berglund Castro and Stephan Agerman of Yoube.
While many local retailers have closed shop and moved on, one company is moving in to the neighborhood.
Yoube — a smart drop-in, co-work space — will open its second location, at 5570 Melrose Ave., tentatively this summer on the ground floor of a brand-new, mixed-use apartment building.
“We love Larchmont. It’s very unique in Los Angeles. We were excited when this came up,” said Stephan Agerman, one of the company’s three owners.
Agerman and his associates searched the city before finding this location in a new building, the Gillis House, under construction at the northern edge of Larchmont Village.
Its appeal?
“Larchmont is a real neighborhood where you can work and pick up bread and ice cream,” Agerman noted.
And, he added, the neighborhood has a high walkability and bike score. Neighbors can easily walk to Yoube (pronounced “you be,” and named after its informal interior design.)
Yoube’s owners are looking to expand their enterprise to 50 locations citywide in the next few years with more openings across the country within the next three-to-five years.
There is an abundant inventory of vacant commercial space from which to choose, they say, thanks to the pandemic.
Their co-work business concept was formed before the pandemic, but the model has become more relevant, from parents who need an office setting to 20-somethings or older, working out of small apartments, explains Yoube co-founder and owner Jenny Berglund Castro.
Features at the new 3,800-square-foot office on Melrose will include secure fiber optic Wi-Fi, sit / stand desks with ergonomic chairs, meeting pods, outdoor spaces and cleaning and sanitizing throughout the day.
“You don’t have to step into an elevator, and there is a lot of air flowing in a big space,” Berglund Castro added.
Fees in this non-traditional setting will start at $2.50 an hour, and go up to $6 an hour for walk-ins. Packages, group purchases and membership discounts are also available.
So why not just stop in a Starbucks for the price of a latte to write or have a meeting?
“Good question,” said Agerman.
Besides hearing the constant sounds of lattes being frothed and name callouts for orders, Wi-Fi at coffee shops is slow and nonsecure. They’re for “digital nomads,” says Agerman.
At Yoube, customers can be socially interactive in meeting pods, or they can enjoy privacy wearing headphones or rent “phone booths.” Either way, the surroundings are conducive to work. Also, the fees are lower than the “smart” co-work competition, which require memberships and are in traditional office settings with the dreaded (in the pandemic age) elevators.
At Yoube, “anyone can come in without a long-term commitment,” added Berglund Castro.
The owners have signed a three-year lease for the ground-floor space on the southwest corner of Beachwood and Melrose, with tall windows and views of busy Melrose. The office will include touchless entry and COVID-19-safe protocols. It will be furnished with 60 seats — to include the sit / stand desks. “Our bodies are not meant to sit,” explains Berglund Castro.
RENDERING shows Yoube’s first office space on West Adams Boulevard.
The modern furniture, including the desks and oversized lounge chairs, will come from design manufacturer Poppin, and plants will hail from KKOT Botanical Design in DTLA.
Communal shared tables are made of recycled oak from an East Los Angeles-based manufacturer.
The environment is designed to inspire workers to take breaks to boost creativity, efficiency and balance.
And to shop.
Almost everything in the space will be for sale, even hand soaps, the art works and photographs on the walls — all by local artists — and the vending food snacks. Customers can scan the QR codes found on each product to purchase online.
“Yoube blends a modern co-working experience with that of a designer showroom,” explains Berglund Castro.
Some 40,000 cars drive by the Melrose location every day. “It’s a massive billboard we’re providing,” adds Agerman.
Initial funding for the venture came from Klovern, a publicly-traded Swedish-based real estate investment firm, in collaboration with its partner in New York, GDSNY.
Berglund Castro and Agerman, who hail from Stockholm, and fellow co-owner/founder Babak Kheshti met as freelancers, when they saw a niche for creating a workspace with easy drop-in access, trustworthy technology and social engagement.
Local art already hangs at the company’s first pop-up planned for a launch at 5335 W. Adams Blvd. at the end of April, with similar fees and easy access.
“It’s a new trend we’re tapping into,” said Agerman. Visit yoube.today, or by visiting its Instagram, @yoube.today .
Category: Real Estate