Cities are made of people – ecosystems woven from millions of personal relationships, initiatives, and transactions. So the work of city-building is not about buildings. Rather, buildings are a by-product of the activities of people, which is why we are always on the lookout for great people. Sparrow Cowork is built on the premise that, if we pay attention to the needs of great people doing good work, we can beautifully inform the shape of buildings, neighbourhoods, and ultimately the future of our city.
Since early 2016, our sister company, Sparrow Capital has been investing in experiments to better understand the potential and needs of Edmonton’s entrepreneurial community.
On the surface, Sparrow’s job is to build great urban spaces. But we’re not interested in buildings. A commercial or community amenity becomes a great urban space only when it is activated by some kind of meaningful activity.
For us, meaningful activity means activation that is somewhere on a spectrum between ‘enhances the cultural fabric of neighbourhoods’ and ‘contributes to the economic resilience and future relevance of the region’.
So we are always on the lookout for great people doing good work. And when those people have a need for commercial space, we can generally find a viable way to build out spaces around their work. And of course the more we can facilitate such spaces, the more the shape of the city can be informed by great people.
Sparrow Cowork locations evolve with our members. Sometimes when members grow strong enough, they may even take over an entire cowork space. In fact, this has already happened at our first downtown location. No problem. We’ll build and adapt new spaces with our members as they grow.
In addition to offering commercial spaces, Sparrow is developing a suite of business admin and management services to help our members become stronger and build mature businesses. As we grow, the Sparrow Cowork network is becoming a collaborative community of peers who know how to have fun while operating businesses with rigour and integrity.
The Sparrow Cowork platform is designed to evolve with the needs of Edmonton’s entrepreneurial community. Our current spaces are focused mainly on flex desks and offices. As the platform evolves, we will be positioned to build out other amenities such as retail spaces, workshops, art studios, commercial kitchens, labs, etc. as specific needs are identified by our members and allies in the community.
Each Sparrow Cowork location offers a range of flexible membership options, including short-term and long-term memberships, flex-desks and private offices, meeting rooms and amenities, and a flexible floorplan that allows members to scale their footprint according to the needs of their business.
The cowork platform is also a home for the cultivation of community and collaboration. As the community evolves, we expect to find further opportunities to share resources and build collaborative solutions to shared needs.
The first phase deployment of Sparrow Cowork is designed to achieve several key outcomes:
As the baseline platform stabilizes, Sparrow Cowork intends to explore options to provide solutions to commonly shared needs identified by members of the community.
For example, such solutions may include bookkeeping services with intelligent forecasting and reporting that can meaningfully inform business strategy; collective procurement of goods and services; access to market distribution channels; access to investment capital; coaching & mentorship; brokering strategic collaboration between stakeholders in the ecosystem; etc. We will need to hear from our members to gather evidence of what is truly needed. And then we can point our problem solving resources at addressing these issues.
As your company matures, you may outgrow your footprint within Sparrow Cowork. When the time comes, our sister company, Sparrow Capital can be available to support your next expansion with some sound advice or by acquiring or building suitable new spaces on your behalf.
We can coach you through the steps for you to buy your own building. We can buy or build a building for you to lease back from us. We can also explore partnerships where we bring the resources to bridge your gaps and then jointly own any commercial assets that result from such collaboration. We are at your service.
For more information about our sister company, visit www.sparrow.capital.
Information asymmetry. The fact that many operators have limited experience with commercial real estate is generally an advantage for landlords in negotiations. At Sparrow, we always aim to start with a level playing field. It may be unintuitive for the industry, but we find that relationships built on trust and fair value make for stronger tenants and communities, and ultimately better performance in our projects.
Ultimately commercial real estate is not that complicated. That is, unless you make it complicated. In twenty minutes, we can teach you everything you need to know about the key principles of investing in commercial real estate. Yes, literally in twenty minutes.
Office 200-D
P: (587) 985 3068
Office 203
P: (780) 722 5699
Interested in a tour? We’ll do you one better. Fill in your contact details and we’ll be in touch right away to coordinate a free trial membership so you can experience a day on site at a space of your choice.
