It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of NedSpace, the coworking space on SW 3rd that’s full of some of the most business-minded tech entrepreneurs in town. I also like the fact that it’s run by a couple of already successful entrepreneurs as a way to give back to the community. And as if that’s not enough, NedSpace serves as the home of the Portland Ten, the startup bootcamp designed to whip would-be entrepreneurs into shape.
Apparently, I’m not the only one who’s a fan. The NedSpace concept is popular. So popular, in fact, that they’ve run out of room.
What to do? What to do? Find more space, of course.
“There are 40 companies and 55 people in Nedspace,” said Josh Friedman of Nedspace. “We’d been thinking about another Nedspace location. And we believe that there would be a great deal of value in having more than one location in the city.”
So that’s exactly what they started pursuing. And now Nedspace has found a second location to call home. Same type of startup environment. Same affordable rent. Same invaluable mentoring to startups in the Portland area. And, as luck would have it, same brick wall.
So where did they decide to open up their second location?
Well, the NedSpace folks are teaming up with eROI—not only a successful Portland startup but also an Old Town landlord—to turn the former Vidoop space above Backspace into another NedSpace workspace.
I don’t know if it has a name yet, but I’m calling it Nedspace II. Why? Because I’m creative like that. Or maybe it’s Nedspace Old Town to contrast it with Nedspace Downtown? Who knows? [UPDATE] Well, now we do know. Josh has confirmed that the location will in fact be referred to as Nedspace Old Town.
What I do know is this: While we’re all still pretty down about the rapid demise of Vidoop and the resulting blow to the ego of the Portland startup community, this seems like a really good way to make something positive out of that negative. The affordable Old Town spaces—especially with the new mass transit options—are perfect for startup types. And it’s great to see folks continuing to take advantage of it.
For more information on the new space, stay tuned to Nedspace community or follow Josh Friedman and Mark Grimes on Twitter.