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Shared Working Space Comes to East Harlem

By Gustavo Solis | November 21, 2014 9:41am

EAST HARLEM — If you work from home or in coffee shops, there is a new alternative in the neighborhood.

TEEM CW, a new shared work space at 1463 Fifth Ave. near East 118th Street, is trying to attract freelancers and small companies from East Harlem. The space is offering anyone that lives in East Harlem's Community Board 11 a $100 discount.

“If you look up co-working you usually find places in Midtown or down in Wall Street,” said Sharlene Khan, the founder. “I’ve come across a lot of people who say, ‘I don’t want to go downtown.’”

Khan, who has lived in the neighborhood for 15 years, started giving tours of the space in November. She hopes to have the grand opening sometime in December.

The shared office space is open with high ceilings and few walls. There are two long communal tables in the middle, a couple of semi-private work stations off to the side and private offices in the back.

There is also a meeting room, a small lounge area and a kitchen full of coffee, tea and office snacks — which are free for members.

Daily passes are $20, and monthly passes are $300. The semi-private spaces are $400 a month, and private offices cost $1,200 to $1,800. 

While showing the space to potential members, Khan has noticed a unique mix of freelancers and entrepreneurs in the area.

“It is amazing, I think only two people out of all my showings do the same thing,” she said.

She has met with people who work in film, photography, marketing, insurance, nutrition, technology and nonprofits, she added.

Rebecca Gidiner, who works at Red Rabbit, which teams up with schools to provide students with healthy meals, is looking into using one of the private offices at TEEM.

Red Rabbit is located in Harlem but most of its building is kitchen space.

“A kitchen isn’t always the best space to have meetings in,” she said.

TEEM is the third co-working space to open in Harlem since 2013. Harlem Garage, 318 W. 118th St., and the Harlem Business Alliance, at 275 Lenox Ave., opened similar spaces last year.

“The rest of the city has already realized places like these are beneficial to them and that the need is there,” Khan said. “We are bringing the service to East Harlem.”