WINDSOR TERRACE — The neighborhood's first co-working space is set to open this spring in a recently renovated Prospect Avenue storefront.
Partners Abby Palanca and Teresa Lagerman are launching Founders Workspace at 553 Prospect Ave., near 10th Avenue, in a former fire extinguisher store.
The space is scheduled to be up and running in mid April. Potential members can kick the tires at open house events March 10 and 11.
Founders Workspace will have 10 desks for full-time members, plus spots for part-time and drop-in members. Amenities will include a booth for private phone calls, printers, fast Wi-Fi and a basement meeting room.
The space is relatively small — about 1,200 square feet — and is best suited for individual professionals who need a quiet spot to work and are tired of spending $20 to $30 a day on breakfast and lunch while toiling away in coffee shops, Palanca said.
Palanca is a real estate agent with an office in Soho, but she does most of her business in Windsor Terrace. Lagerman runs a marketing business with her husband out of her Windsor Terrace home.
The two are members of a networking group that meets regularly at Brooklyn Commune, and they've often found themselves staying in the cafe for hours to work after their group meetings, along with dozens of other office-less workers.
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With a lack of co-working spaces nearby, they realized there was a pent-up demand and decided to rent 535 Prospect Ave.
Palanca said she'll miss the cheesy grits at Brooklyn Commune, but she's looking forward to having a peaceful spot to work close to home. Palanca and Lagerman also plan to use the space to host networking meet-ups, exhibitions for local artists and other events for locals.
Palanca's family has owned Tri-Parkway Cleaners on Ft. Hamilton Parkway for 50 years. She was born and raised in Windsor Terrace and attended P.S. 154 as a kid. Now both she and Lagerman are parents of P.S. 154 kids, and Palanca said she hopes the co-working space will help local business owners flourish.
She was partly inspired to start the new venture by neighbors (and fellow P.S. 154 parents) who've started several businesses on Prospect Avenue in recent years.
"I'm definitely a big supporter of local people," Palanca said. "I grew up behind the counter of a local business. For me to have my own brick and mortar in the neighborhood feels like full circle."
