Metropreneur.com – April 25, 2017

By Paula Gomprecht | April 25, 2017

New York-based Serendipity Labs is bringing its coworking franchise to Columbus, opting for two locations to introduce their concept to the market. Columbus-based Renascent Hospitality will manage the dueling labs located Downtown in the Fifth Third Building at 21 E. State St., and in the Short North at 900 N. High St., the proposed location of a mixed-use development to replace the UDF.

Renascent business partners Trevor Warner and Scott Somerville jumped at what they call two unreplicable locations in the market.

The 14,000 square feet of the former gym boast floor-to-ceiling windows and a prime location next to the Statehouse. The new build of the Short North development at the apex of the neighborhood will offer 22,000 square feet in a four-story building that includes a restaurant tenant and outdoor space on the rooftop.

Working with a hospitality companies like Renascent is indicative of the kind of environment Serendipity Labs looks to create.

“They are running the labs with that kind of service,” Warner says.

The upscale coworking franchise is focused on the hospitality that hoteliers know how to deliver.

“I started seeing my hospitality trade either magazine or blogs about other hotel management groups that were buying the area rights to develop Serendipity Labs locations,” Somerville says.

He saw locations popping up in Nashville, Chicago, and finally, with a group he is familiar with in Dallas. After the third city tipped the scales, he started speaking with other associates about why they were investing in Serendipity Labs. Somerville sees it almost as a natural extension of the services they already provide at hotels. Warner says it’s that aspect that sets Serendipity Labs apart from other coworking spaces.

Source: Susan Post, “Serendipity Labs Coworking Headed for Downtown & Short North,” Metropreneur.com