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Alyssa Tyler editor-in-chief
Root Coffeehouse is separated from the newly opened ‘Co-Work Café’ through just one door. In the past month Root and PSU have officially opened the new workspace with it being designed for tenants to rent out desk space to work.
“This is a space that tenants can rent desk space in that is in a public, shared, location. That has the vibe of a coffee shop and amenities that they might not have at home. They’re close to restaurants and a courtyard that they can have lunch in. They have high speed internet available, they can have clients come in and not feel like they have to tidy up the living room,” said co-owner of Root and Director of Media Relations, Andra Stefanoni.
The Stefanoni’s rent the space where Root is located from PSU. While the location is directly underneath some of the Block22 apartments in downtown Pittsburg.
“It’s a shared vision between us and PSU. When this space was developed it was supposed to be a co-working environment in a way… We had talked about this space being utilized more. And one day Shawn Naccarato and I were talking, and his comment was basically like, ‘we just need to get this done.’ And I said, ‘maybe its something you guys can’t get done on your own and we can’t get done on our own, but how about we partner and get it done together,” said Brad Stefanoni.
Jeremy Johnson, the program evaluator in the center of community support for the company Green Bush, is the space’s first tenant.
“This has been a perfect space. The separation from home, I walk two blocks, I’m here in five minutes, I’m right next door to one of the hottest spots in town with some great coffee. And as a community hub, people are in and out. I’ve found that when I’m over and in that space, it’s harder to get work done since you’re in the middle of this flow of people. Over here, I’m kind out of the way, within eye shot, so I can still go take a break and talk to people… I’m able to have that community interaction that would also be limited in a traditional office. Which I feel like I need, in order to be productive,” said Johnson. “The entire department that I am in, is remote, we’re all spread to the wind. Most of them in the department, sing the praises of working from home. And I wasn’t a hundred percent there, this was the first time I had done it. I was trying to figure it out and how to be effective and I found that being in this is like a perfect halfway point. I’m not sitting in my living room, being like, ‘oh there are all of these chores to do…’ I can have that separation. But also be around community space.”
For those interested in renting the space, they can talk to the Root employees to be pointed in the right direction. Prospective tenants will have the choice to rent their space for a year, six months, or even day passes.
“We have a lot of folks come into the coffee house and they may be in town for a couple of days and they don’t want to work out of a hotel. But they need all of the amenities but they also want to be close to food, coffee, and all of those things. So, we continued to tell the potential people that come to us. ‘Here’s kind of what available so far, but we want to mirror what this space is supposed to be in terms of something different, something unique, being able to think outside of the box… We want to be flexible enough to entertain whatever that is, because it may be very important to that person,” said Brad.
