Cowork Lee’s Summit to revamp old post office for entrepreneurs
February 17, 2017 | Bobby Burch
Lee’s Summit is set to receive a large, new coworking space to serve as the city’s entrepreneurial hub.
The founder of Community Buying Group, Ben Rao said he will soon close on purchasing the old Lee’s Summit Post Office to convert it into a 13,000 square-foot coworking space named Cowork Lee’s Summit. Without any nearby coworking options, Rao said he’s thrilled to create a destination for Lee’s Summit entrepreneurs to convene.
“I’m really excited about building out this space,” Rao said. “It’s going to be great for eastern Jackson County.”
Rao said the building — built in 1962 — has a tremendous opportunity. Eventually, the space will feature 30 private offices, about 5,000 square feet common space a coffee shop and a 2,000 square-foot event space. Eventually, Rao said Cowork Lee’s Summit will provide educational programming for entrepreneurs to learn and grow their businesses.
While yet to begin on refurbishing the building, Rao has ambitious plans for its design. In addition to a cafe and deli, the building will feature several sustainable design elements, including LED lighting, a green roof and an array of solar panels that should power about 70 percent of the space, Rao said.
“I’ve always had a passion for beautification and rehabbing spaces,” Rao said. “With this project, both worlds collide.”
Rao is currently seeking property tax abatements to help offset costs of the project, which should be nearly $1.7 million, the Lee’s Summit Journal reported.
Rao said he’s optimistic that the space will help elevate Lee’s Summit. He said that as of now, Lee’s Summit entrepreneurs are often forced to either work from their homes or travel to downtown Kansas City. Now, they’ll be able to create a community together.
“I had always wanted to do some sort of shared space or coworking studio to bring up Lee’s Summit,” Rao said. “There’s so much going on in Lee’s Summit. … Here, you’ll be a part of a community that’s walkable and in a downtown business district.”
Rao said he hopes to have the space open for a tour in June and available for rent in the fall.
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Blooom wins Kauffman Foundation pitch bout, $10K
Can anything stop Blooom? Continuing its streak of wins and successes, the financial tech firm on Wednesday morning won a national pitch contest at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Leawood-based Blooom beat out four other finalists in the inaugural One in a Million pitch contest, which initially drew more than 350 applicants. Blooom survived several…
And then there was one: Blooom the sole local firm left in national pitch contest
Financial tech startup Blooom is the lone Kansas City-area company to advance in the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s “One in a Million” pitch competition Out of an initial field of more than 350 companies, the Leawood-based firm advanced to the final round of five in the foundation’s pitch contest. The competition, which will conclude the…
Kansas City’s ‘Bean Baron’ brews entrepreneur of the year award
Kansas City’s so-called “Bean Baron” was recently named a top entrepreneur in the region. The University of Missouri-Kansas City Bloch School on Monday dubbed Roasterie founder Danny O’Neill as the Regional Entrepreneur of the Year. O’Neill, who launched the specialty coffee producer in 1993, accepted the award Monday evening as part of a Global Entrepreneurship Week…
Kansas City Startup Weekend crowns new champion LoopLogiq
A whirlwind of a weekend produced a startup champion that hopes to revamp the world of customer relationship management. Kansas City Startup Weekend, a competition in which teams frantically develop and refine a business idea in 54 hours, crowned LoopLogiq as its champion Sunday. The company’s customer relationship management system (CRM) aims to help companies…