MakeOffices targets health tech firms at latest location
Co-workspace provider, MakeOffices is opening its third location in Chicago next month. The 21k sq ft office in Streeterville at 541 N Fairbanks Court is located near Northwestern Memorial Hospital and is expected to attract health tech start-ups.

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Coworking space MakeOffices is preparing to open its third location in Chicago. Its first space opened in River North in January. (Pabst Photo )

Coworking space MakeOffices is preparing to open its third location in Chicago, a space near Northwestern Memorial Hospital that expects to house health-tech startups.

The Washington, D.C.-based company is working on a 21,000-square-foot location in Streeterville at 541 N. Fairbanks Court, set to open June 1.

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MakeOffices CEO Raymond Rahbar said the company is renting the space from Northwestern, and there's room to grow.

The company opened its first space in Chicago in River North in January. That space, at 350 N. Orleans St., is about 44,000 square feet, Rahbar said. A 50,000-square-foot space opened at 1 N. State St. in the Loop in February.

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"Chicago checked the box on everything we were looking for in a city," Rahbar said, with a dense millennial population and a diverse economy that is "entrepreneurship-driven."

The Streeterville location will offer office space starting at $550 a month for a one-person office and amenities including 24/7 access, beer and wine, conference rooms and a stocked kitchen. The largest available office holds 12 people and costs $4,000 a month.

For $75 a month, members can get access to networking events and conference spaces, but no office space. Because of its smaller size, Streeterville is the only Chicago location that doesn't offer desk space, which starts at $250 per month at the other locations.

Rahbar said that there are no immediate plans to add more Chicago offices, but he's always on the hunt for optimal space.

Chicago has seen an uptick in larger, nationally run coworking spaces recently. Minneapolis coworking company Coco bought its way into the Chicago market earlier this week, acquiring West Loop-based Enerspace Chicago.

New York-based WeWork, which claims more than 25,000 members worldwide, entered the Chicago market last year with a location each in River North and the West Loop.

Sam Rosen, co-founder of DeskTime, a platform that lets people managed shared spaces, believes there's room for more coworking spaces in Chicago.

"There's still far more demand that's going to outweigh supply," he said. "I liken it to coffeehouses, where you're going to have people who want these large operations with more space and more amenities, and you're going to have people who want more of a flavor that fits them."

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amarotti@tribpub.com

Twitter @allymarotti