Four Locally-Owned Coworking Spaces In & Around Denver’s Central Park Neighborhood

June 23, 2022

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Four Locally-Owned Coworking Spaces In & Around Denver’s Central Park Neighborhood

Need to get out of the house and get some work done? I get it! I’ve been there before myself! It’s kind of fun to work from home for a while and in my experience it seems ideal at first (no commute, shower optional, etc.), but after a while I found it isolating and not actually that conducive to getting focused work done. (Ever just find yourself doing your laundry or helping the kids with something instead of making progress on that work project?)

If you can relate and you’re interested in coworking, the next step is to find out your nearby options. Well, we did the research for you!

Sure, you could google it and figure this stuff out, but we ran around and shot some videos of 4 locally owned spaces near Central Park, so you can hopefully figure out which one suits your needs without having to do the legwork.

The 4 locally owned spaces are all within 5 minutes of Denver’s Central Park neighborhood. (The logic being you want work space close by, you don’t want to create a big commute for yourself.)

Not into reading about the spaces and just want the details? Skip to the end of the post to find:

A compilation video of the tours we took at all 4 spaces.
A link to our Coworking Spaces Near Central Park Guide we created for you that should answer some of the most common questions.
Contact info for managers/owners of all 4 spaces if you have follow up questions or want a tour.

The 4 places we explored are Progress Coworking, Creative Density Park Hill (formerly Park Hill Coworking), Runway Workspaces (formerly Smart Space) and I-Work/Self Directed. For full disclosure, I’m a part owner in Progress Coworking.

The goal of the post isn’t to sell you on our space at Progress, we really think showing you all the options is best for everyone involved. People can’t be tricked into enjoying a space, they just need to find the right fit. Do you like a little light music and some socialization? Or do you prefer total quiet and just want to put your head down and work? Do you need a buttoned-up professional corporate space or do you enjoy something a little funky and different? Do you just want to go a few days a week or do you need 24/7 access? These are just a few examples of the types of questions you should consider as you try to find the right space that fits your needs.

So let’s jump in and explore the different spaces.

Progress Coworking:

Progress Coworking is a casual coworking office I started 8 years ago with my friend and business partner Biff Brett. It started with just he and I hanging out in our old building with a really leaky roof, but over the years it’s grown into an awesome community of locals all coming to get their work done… while making some new friends at the same time. (and we fixed the roof!)

We’re located just a block East of the Stanley Marketplace at 2340 Dayton St. It’s the building with the crazy blue bird mural on the front that you may have noticed as you drove by. The location is awesome because if you live in Central Park it’s no more than 5-15 minutes to get here, even in you’re in North End. For many, it’s just an easy bike ride in. It’s a huge perk being by the Stanley Marketplace too. In about a one minute walk you can pop over there for coffee, lunch or to just meet someone for an appointment.

At Progress we offer several different plans to our coworkers, including “hot desk” plans for $150 per month, dedicated desks for $350 per month and private offices ranging from $600 – $2,000 per month (depending on how many people the office can accommodate). The $600 office is more of a one person office, there are some in the $750 range for 2-3 people then the larger offices in the $1,500 – $2,000 range can accommodate 5-6 people.

All of the plans at Progress are month to month, keeping it really flexible for our coworkers.

Progress is probably a good fit for people who are wanting to focus on getting their work done but they also want some light music, some interaction with people and maybe a few well-behaved dogs around. The space consists of about 6k sf and has a very industrial type feel. It’s not a buttoned up, corporate type office so if meeting clients at a fancy office is your deal, it’s probably not the spot for you.

Other perks at Progress?

24/7 access…work on your schedule!
Awesome WiFi! (2 networks, 1 of which is fiber with “gig” speed… I think that’s what the smart people tell me)
Unlimited Logan House coffee
2 conference rooms available to you at no extra charge
Phone booths to give you privacy for you work calls
Printing
Two included community lunches per month (Taco bar from the mercado and then there’s Mici’s Monday pizza day!)
Unlimited beverages including beer, Le Croix, sodas, and iced coffee plus snacks!

The best perk? That you end up knowing a bunch of people you wouldn’t have otherwise, making you feel more like a true part of a community.

For a tour of Progress Coworking go to our website and go to the top of the screen where it says “Click here to book a tour with Joe or Biff”. We’d love to give you a tour and even set you up with a free trial to make sure you love it.

Creative Density (Formerly known as Park Hill Coworking):

Creative Density Park Hill is another awesome option for coworking or office space near Central Park. Located in a newly renovated block at 28^th and Fairfax in Park Hill, this space is really well located if you want to be on a vibrant urban street. Restaurants, a brewery, a local coffee shop, retail shops and a park are all right outside the front door, which is really appealing and gives the space a good vibe.

As you’ll see if you tour it (or watch the video below), the space is beautiful. It’s very modern and clean in it’s design with open glass offices, a large conference room, spacious kitchen, beautiful interior design and an amazing patio that overlooks a park.

Creative Density seems to be a quiet workspace where people can really get their work done, but they also value events and creating a sense of community. As their slogan says, “working alone sucks”, and they strive to help community members get to know each other.

They offer hot desks for $125 per month, dedicated desks for $350 per month and private offices for $750 – $1,800.

Perks at Creative Density?

As a member at Creative Density you also get access to their spaces in Sunnyside, Uptown, etc. This is a big perk if you move around town often for your work.
24/7 access
Huckleberry coffee & other beverages
Good WiFi (fiber)
Patio overlooking park
Several events/community gatherings per month
Spare monitors you can use while at the office
Phone booths for calls
Conference rooms for meetings
Printing

Runway Workspaces:

Runway Workspaces, formerly known as Smart Space, has been the longest running coworking/shared office space in the community that I know of.

Located in Central Park next to Mici’s and across from TOCA Denver (formerly Bladium), Runway Workspaces is in a very accessible location for a lot of Central Park resident.

A few things that stand out to me about the space are the flexibility in terms of different packages they offer and the corporate image the space can provide its members.

Yes, they have coworking spaces and dedicated offices, as you would at most other spaces, but they also offer “fractional offices”, which means you can rent a share of an office and receive a certain number of hours of usage per week. Perfect for someone who needs the privacy of an office but doesn’t want to pay for it all week. They also offer drop in daily rates and even hourly rates for offices and other meeting spaces.

In addition to flexibility, Runway Workspaces offers a lot of other amenities that most spaces in the area don’t offer. Those include items such as on site staff during the week, mail service (you can have an address here) and phone answering service.

The space, which is on two floors, has a very professional look and feel. It would likely work well for professionals that are looking to have corporate space where they can get their work done or possibly host clients and teammates for meetings (without having the cost of having to lease space full time!). The flexibility in terms of the plans offered is extremely appealing. The space is pretty quiet and common space for coworking is limited, so it’s probably not as interactive between members as some of the other more open spaces.

Perks at Runway Workspaces?

Flexibility! Rent by the hour, day or month.
Fractional office shares to keep costs down
Mail service
Phone answering service
Front desk staff during the week
Notary
Printing

I-Work Private Offices/Self-Directed Private Offices:

I-Work Private Offices and Self-Directed Private Offices are located at the 23^rd and Dayton St, just one block East of Stanley Marketplace. You’ll spot them easily as they have a beautifully renovated black and white exterior.

Although they are two separated entities, these two spaces were developed in tandem by Patrick Guiness and Bryon Horvath, two guys who initially had a vision to build out the space to be the perfect office and hang out for themselves. The buildings are connected inside and mirror each other, so I’ve combined these two spaces into one for simplicity.

Their initial vision of just creating the spaces for themselves grew and now they have 15 private office suites, as well as two awesome community spaces that include things like TVs, couches, shuffleboard, pool & more. They have two beautiful kitchens where they provide coffee and other beverages.

The space has really tall ceilings, glass garage doors and above average size offices. The entire space inside and out was renovated and it’s really well done.

These offices are very large and private. Dedicated desks and coworking shared desk spaces are not offered. So this is a good fit if you’re the type that really wants privacy and your own space. If you’re looking to meet quite a few people or have daily interactions with people in community space this may not be the top option.

One thing that’s really appealing to me about this space is that you get your office, but you’re also encouraged to enjoy the community space any time you want, whether it’s for personal stuff (book club, just watching tv, pool and beers with friends, etc) or for business use like an after hours brainstorming session.

Offices range from $700 to $900 and each one is easily large enough to accommodate several people or even a small team.

Perks of I-Work/Self Directed?

Large offices!
Coffee
Good WiFi
24/7 access
Very private
Community space that can be used for personal or business (this is your getaway!)

Resources:

Well there you have it, a little overview of 4 locally owned coworking spaces in and around Denver’s Central Park neighborhood! Hopefully this helps you and you’re excited to take the next steps and try out a space.

Below are all the resources we promised to provide. Please reach out to whichever spaces appeal to you and give coworking a try!