BBJ Article: Word’s Getting Around About Betamore’s Expansion
Originally posted via Baltimore Business Journal by Morgan Eichensehr
Betamore’s new City Garage space ‘adds another level to what we’re trying to do’
Betamore has opened its second co-working space inside Kevin Plank’s City Garage hub, a two-floor incubator that is nearly double the size of the workspace in its original Federal Hill office.
Betamore occupies about 8,000 square feet of the 130,000-square-foot former city bus depot in Port Covington. The offices sit in open space along the building’s central corridor, or “Main Street.” The Federal Hill space is also 8,000 square feet, but only about half is usable workspace.
The necessary expansion allows Betamore to serve more companies, as it nears capacity in its Federal Hill space at 1111 Light St. The first location opened in 2012 and is home to about 30 companies.
The new space can accommodate up to 95 people. Eight companies are already signed on as tenants and recently starting moving in.
Tenants have the option of sitting at single desks in a floor-to-ceiling windowed communal office, or at one of the long, wooden tables sitting in the center of the newly carpeted Main Street. There are also seven individual offices for companies with larger staffs.
Betamore CEO Jen Meyer said she was surprised by what the designers were able to make of the space.
Metal stairs at the center of the space lead to a second floor with more single desk and table workspaces, overlooking the offices of neighboring startups and City Garage tenants like produce delivery company Hungry Harvest and small robot manufacturer Ready Robotics.
A large back conference room can be opened for extra floor space for events. The entire space is accented with black, white and red details and set against the backdrop of the star-spangled “Made in America” wall at City Garage.
“I didn’t think there would be enough space for all of this, especially for two floors,” Meyer said. “It’s definitely bigger than we thought it would be. It’s the kind of space we need for our growing companies and it really adds another level to what we’re trying to do.”
