Tucked behind dozens of rolling doors in Pittsburgh Yards, a host of Atlanta-based businesses make their homes in tiny office spaces. A tea shop, embroidery company, bottled water brand and several others are just a few of the tenants in the property’s so-called “job hub.”
It’s not a typical coworking space. It’s also not just an office building. Pittsburgh Yards is something else, emphasized by project leaders and a public mission of wealth and income equity.
The space does offer a $50 monthly coworking membership and has a lineup of private rooms for rent, but the Annie E. Casey Foundation Program Associate Chantell Glenn wants to make the mission clear.
“What we do here as part of this project is fight off displacement, which is not just about housing, but it’s also about our businesses and our communities who are losing out on all the wonderful development,” Glenn said.
She oversees the development and operations of Pittsburgh Yards. The adaptive-reuse property is a “buffer against displacement,” according to property manager Walter Slaton. The team wants to keep the Pittsburgh neighborhood intact, while helping its residents thrive.
It does so in a few ways: First, the coworking membership and offices are application-based. People who live in the neighborhood are prioritized first, then people who align with the mission of job creation and equitability. Then, they’re brought into a web of businesses that often collaborate and partner with each other.
Many people start off with a coworking membership that provides 24/7 access to shared space and amenities before upgrading to a private office. Those rooms are set well below market rate: Offices.com reported in 2022 that Atlanta commercial space averages about $32 per square foot.
At Pittsburgh Yards, the rooms range from 100 to 400 square feet, and rent costs somewhere between $700 to $1,500 a month. The smallest rooms would run about $4,000 if it matched the city’s average market rate.
The affordability component is what makes Pittsburgh Yards a “market disruptor,” according to Glenn.
“It’s twofold; it’s the real estate market shift that we have to get control of by owning this land and doing something with it,” Glenn said. “It’s also recognizing that small businesses really are kind of the heartbeat.”
When Pittsburgh Yards opened, Glenn said the team aimed to fill a gap with spaces specifically designed for small businesses. The building was split into three sections: the north wing, the west wing and the south wing.
The north wing is typical office spaces best for smaller nonprofits, communications agencies and the like. The south wing is home to creative spaces for photographers, painters and the like. The west wing is set aside as “light industrial” rooms best for small business production.
It’s home to a variety of small businesses, but Pittsburgh Yard’s goal remains the same.
“It’s all about helping small businesses to scale,” Glenn said.
She doesn’t expect all of the businesses to stick around for decades, though. Property manager Slaton said the aim is to create a system that can help people grow and eventually expand into potential retail space in parcels next to The Nia Building.
“The idea for that would be that this would be a site that has this kind of circular flow,” Slaton said.
But some tenants like the space so much they want to stick around. Destiny Brewton, owner of custom patch-making company A House Called Hue has been a tenant since 2020. In the years since opening in 2016, her business has grown from a few small embroidery machines to three semi-commercial large machines.
Brewton started her business out of her house. She later became a tenant at Pittsburgh Yards for a few years before moving out in search of a bigger space. But Brewton came back one year later, craving the safety and community of her previous office.
“Even though my space is smaller than I had, it’s worth coming back just to have a space where you can feel comfortable,” Brewton said.
Brewton said she’s found plenty of business at Pittsburgh Yards just by meeting other business owners. She calls her business a “connector” through creating corporate patches and platforming other companies she works for. She also values the collaboration that comes from having neighbors, something a home-based business lacks.
“We bounce things off each other,” Brewton said.
But it’s not just new and expanding businesses that find a home at Pittsburgh Yards. Ronda Flynn started her main business, RondaFlynnWOW, 26 years ago. It provides services in web development, strategic marketing, production, video production and “all things creative.”
Flynn started renting in 2023. She had previously worked from home until a friend brought her to Pittsburgh Yards. As a frequent walker, the building’s location next to the Atlanta Beltline was a selling point for the property. She also liked the all-hours access and robust security. It didn’t take long for Flynn to try out renting a space.
“I have this beautiful space there, but what I also love is the sense of community at Pittsburgh Yards,” Flynn said.
She leaves her office door open for passersby and likes to take curious pedestrians on unofficial tours of the property. Flynn also hosts a series of panel discussions through her company, I Am Built for This, all set at the property’s atrium space.
To Flynn, the businesses on Atlanta’s south side are a “whole family” between community and partnerships. She thinks that aligns with the mission of Pittsburgh Yards.
“They want the businesses to interact and build a sense of community, and I absolutely can say we’ve done that for sure,” Flynn said.
Great story with an open perspective. Good for Atlanta