WeWork Fort Point

Highlights of working with a company who rents space in the WeWork at Fort Point:
–The community manager and staff here does an awesome job of taking care of things when things go wrong
–Free food! Our recent list of goodies include Kane’s Donuts, and a bourbon happy hour hosted by a cowboy with tons of free BBQ, bagels, bellinis, and at least three happy hours in the two months I’ve been there daily
–Charles, the friendliest doorman on earth
–Bathrooms so nice, I’ve sent photos to all my former coworkers! No stalls people, I’m talking completely enclosed, clean, nice smelling potty spaces, designed with the shy in mind!
–Lots and lots of young, friendly people, many of whom also work for tech companies, all sharing the building and rubbing elbows
–Plus one thousand stars for dog friendliness!!!
The only downsides:
–You have to say hi to everyone you see because they’re all so nice
–Our business is growing so fast that we need more space!
So basically, if you’re thinking about renting a desk here, I’d highly recommend it! You can drink back your rent in free beer, coffee and wifi in a week flat!

A company I temped with was based out of this location and boy was I in for a treat. Upon entering I entered my contact’s name and their Ipad check in took a photo of my face. THE FUTURE IS HERE
Overall the space is put together nicely. It feels like a tech start up. Nice kitchen areas, fancy water with citrus or cucumbers, free coffee, beer, untensils. You name it. The bathroom has toothbrushes and mouthwash. These are some perks that are just sort of the icing on the cake.
Offices are spacious but private. Coworking space seems nice too (though I was in an office).
I wish they wouldn’t blast the AC so high though!

This is where I’m coming from: in March of 2014, I was about to finish grad school and trying to run my small business from my apartment. In theory, it sounds great– set your own hours, work in your pajamas, etc. But I was used to the structure that school provided, and my business was quickly descending into an unproductive slump. I looked into commercial space options and just couldn’t afford the huge jump in overhead. I remembered reading about creative co-​working spaces in a plane magazine, so I did a quick Google search and WeWork magically fell into my lap.
The office is very accessible since it’s a five-​minute walk from South Station, and I really love the atmosphere of the «commuter life» and being part of the energy of this area of town. The views are incredible, and there are so many great restaurants over here. I love hopping over to Congress St. to grab SweetGreen, Bee’s Knees, Barrington Coffee, or Flour for lunch. And the (practically ²⁴⁄₇) post office is located between here and South Station, which helps me deliver my clients’ packages lighting-​fast.
I started in the Labs area, which (from what I hear) is similar to CIC and Mass Challenge. I worked in one large room with lots of desks, many of which were occupied by startups. I made great friends in the space. Once my business was a little more established, I made the move to a cozy one-​person office. I couldn’t be more in love with my space. To see an example of a WeWork office, check out my blog:
I’m a big fan of the interior design, and I’m proud to bring my clients here because I feel that the space aligns well with my brand. They’re impressed by the free coffee, tea, and beer on tap (side note: WeWork locks the tap on nights and weekends to prevent partying). There are lots of pleasant spaces scattered throughout the building, so if you get bored working at your desk, you can chill out in the kitchen, the floor lobby, the gorgeous main lobby, or the basement lounge.
I’ve met some great people here, and this really helped me with the lonely aspect of running a business from home. I’ve formed great friendships and business partnerships– once I traded a favor with a co-​worker in exchange for business advice, which has immensely helped growth in the last few months.
The internet is lighting fast (over 100 MB up and down), and the printer situation is rockin’– I can send documents to a commercial color printer directly from my computer. I really enjoy being able to have mail delivered here, and I appreciate the added security of having a business address on all of my correspondence.
I’ve become friends with the security guards on the first floor as well as the custodians, who keep this place immaculately clean.
It’s been worth every penny for me to be here. It’s helped me grow from a student to a true business owner, not only in practice but in mentality. When it’s a one-​man/​woman-​show, I really believe that extra environmental boost is the difference between success and failure.

Overall, there is a weird mix of things done really well and things that are done badly. Maybe the best way to describe it is a high-​end industrial-​chic office done on the cheap, or maybe by an inexperienced crew (even though WeWork has plenty of other locations).
What small companies would see as the upside:
* Potentially cheap rent (be sure to shop around — and for goodness sake work from home if you are the only Boston person in your company)
* Quick setup (turnkey office space)
* Flexibility on size of space
* Month-​to-​month lease
* Networking opportunities (yuck) — WeWork has a stalker-​friendly in-​house-​only social networking website and scheduled on-​site events
* Places to book a meeting or plug in a laptop in high-​tech cities across the country, which is a cool benefit of membership
You can bring in your own furniture and decorations, but co-​working isn’t for you if you need to move walls or redecorate the common areas or get your own Internet provider or change the way the kitchen or security work.
Main complaints:
* The tops of the wooden desks aren’t sealed, so they stain easily (including if you merely put a cold drink on them), feel rough, and give SPLINTERS. This is a major failure for furniture that should be turnkey.
* Can’t use the on-​site bike parking. One is in a construction zone; the other is between a huge transformer (so you have to lift your bike over other bikes) and a security fence which prevents locking to anything but the front wheel. I park at a nearby city hitch or parking meter, or on potentially rainy days there is secure covered parking at the South Station Pedal and Park cage with a (free) registered CharlieCard.
* The fridge is always rather crowded with brought lunches; a second one is probably needed
* There aren’t any real plates or bowls or silverware in the kitchen, even though there is a dishwasher. I brought my own bowl and spoon so I can eat soup; there are paper plates provided for re-​heating things though that doesn’t seem very environmentally friendly.
* Some of the offices seem to have chronic HVAC problems. Most of the windows don’t open, which makes it very sad when it’s nicer outside than inside.
* They have «social» events in the basement lounge, most of which are actually marketing events sponsored by outside companies. I find this a rather slimy way to advertise to a captive audience, especially since there’s no way to unsubscribe from the spammy emails they are always sending about them.
* Some of the chairs in conferences rooms are just plain uncomfortable to sit in, especially if you want to lean back.
* Some of the offices feel overcrowded if they are occupied at their full rated capacity, but others are fine.
* It’s hard to go from the bathroom to your desk with clean hands due
to the inward door swing and placement of trash bins.
Check their website to get an idea of their design style. It’s nerdy and hipstery and to me has both gorgeous (e.g. brick and high-​end kitchen and bath) and ugly parts (the hallway floors, the fake old-​timey signs). In person, having lots of offices with tall glass walls crammed into each floor makes it feel a bit like a rat maze, but better than a blah corporate hallway.
There is music piped into the lounge and kitchen and bathroom areas. This seemed classy at first, like a nice restaurant, but over time it alternately annoys me and cheers me up.
There are single-​person bathrooms in the basement (but no paper towels) if like me you don’t like the multi-​person ones on most floors. There are far more men than women working here, which also leads to traffic jams at peak (but there’s always an open toilet on a different floor if you don’t want to wait).
I was quite pleased to discover there is a shower room in the basement for bikers, joggers, etc. You’ll have to bring your own toiletries and dry your towel somewhere, though; I actually have a membership at a nearby gym and find that more convenient.
The staff at WeWork, from cleaners to mail delivery to front desk to concierge are all very friendly and helpful. The workers at other companies here are also generally very friendly, though personally I think I’d rather be in a single-​company space where I didn’t have to awkwardly not say hello to a dozen people a day in common spaces.
As for finding a place with cheap rent, I know WeWork is cheaper than Cambridge Innovation Center, but I’m not sure how it compares to non-​co-​working spaces. My employer is certainly paying for things I don’t use, like free beer (I don’t drink) and the arcade games and TVs in the basement lounge. CIC has free snacks; avoiding those is probably better for my waistline and lowers the rent here. Given the amount of unrented space (maybe 30%, including the entire 7^th floor), I also wonder if the price here might be negotiable, especially for short-​term tenants.