Steve Collens leads a tour through the 1871 space at the Merchandise Mart
By Rose Tibayan
“If you build it, he will come.”
It’s a memorable scene in the movie “Field of Dreams.” A mystery voice inspires the baffled character played by Kevin Costner: Build a baseball diamond in a cornfield and something important will happen.
The organizers of “1871” – the number refers to the year of the Great Chicago Fire and the Chicago that was eventually rebuilt – believe they have built something important. And, apparently, hundreds of entrepreneurs seem to think so.
Located at the Merchandise Mart on the near North Side of Chicago, 1871 will be an incubator of new ideas and digital businesses, they say. How? They want to put a lot of smart entrepreneurs in a closed space, let them talk, mentor each other, and dream.
The organizers, the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, have been around since 2003 and say they have raised $160 million to help finance new businesses. The center put out an initial call for applications for the space last month.
Steve Collens, one of the founders of the center and a senior vice president of The Pritzker Group, says that they didn’t know what would happen. It was like buying a lot of food and drink, putting out the word, and hoping someone would show up, says Collens, who leads the hardhat tours.
“On the first day we had 50 applications from companies come in,” says Collens. Eventually, applications began streaming in. “They continue to pour in,” he says.
The demand for space at 1871 now exceeds the supply.
Located on the 11th floor of the Merchandise Mart, 1871 has 220 work desks. The desks rent for $125 to $400 a month, depending on access.
A frame for a metal bench snakes through the area for shared space The view from the 11th floor
One entrepreneur who took a tour of 1871 was Todd O’Hara, of Toodalu, an online network that funnels “micro” donations to charities. He said he would relish the opportunity to rub elbows with like-minded entrepreneurs in a set-up like 1871.
“Any startup would be crazy to think they wouldn’t fit in here,” O’Hara says. “It would be a great opportunity to meet other people in the technology community. Right now, Chicago’s pretty fractured. So, unless you’re going to an event every night, there’s really no landing base for lots of entrepreneurs, like a Google or Facebook office that has hundreds and hundreds of people.”
Entrepreneurs see value in serendipitous encounters, which are frequent in Silicon Valley, the Boston area or Manhattan, but still rare in Chicago.
“The reality is that there are just very few co-working spaces here,” says Collens, of the center. “People are scattered from Ravenswood to River North to the West Loop.”
Eventually, someone will have the difficult task of deciding who gets a desk at 1871. Collens says that an independent team will review the applications and decide what the makeup of the space will be. The strongest candidates will have the following qualifications:
First, and foremost, is the startup a digital venture? It should be online, have mobile applications, and not be a mom-and-pop shop.
Second, does the venture have a good chance of success? Does it have funding, mentors, a qualified and experienced team, and scalability?
Finally, will the venture fit into the give-and-take culture of 1871 – a vibrant culture of collaboration, mentoring, and learning?
“It is very much intended to be a space where people give back,” says Collens, of the center. “People contribute to the classes, people contribute as mentors, and then also take from those things.”
Currently, there are three options from which applicants can choose.
1) Reserved, full-time space at $400 a month, which includes 24/7 access; wireless and Ethernet; use of all conference rooms; a reserved and powered desk; and locking storage space under the desk.
2) Shared space at $250 a month, which includes 24/7 access; wireless; access to some conference rooms; and first-come/first-serve desks. A locker is available for $25 a month.
3) Night and weekend shared option at $125 a month, includes the same benefits as No. 2 but for fewer weekly hours.
Those who apply for the reserved full-time space and are not selected will be rolled into the pool of those vying for the shared co-working space.
“There’s a lot more flexibility on the shared co-working” space, says Collens. “Not everybody is gonna be here every day. We really don’t know what the percentage is quite yet, we’ll figure that out as we sort of go, but if we have 220 desks, we can sell somewhat more than 220 memberships” because of the part-time access.
In addition, the applicant team has to be tiny. Memberships at 1871 are designed for no more than two people at the start.
It’s a perfect fit for Robbie Abed, of European Mobile Consulting. “There’s just a couple of us, so just a smaller office space in the communal area, even if shared, that’s totally fine,” he says.
Alas, entrepreneurial success will eventually mean goodbye. Like a mother bird, 1871 will kick teams out of the nest that grow to more than 10 people.
“If you become too successful,” says Collens, “you’ve got to leave.” It’s a good problem to have for any startup because, most likely, it will also mean the enterprise has a strong enough cash flow to afford office space elsewhere.
Veronica Ludwig, of Venchure.com, a business-strategy company, toured 1871. “There’s been a lot of hype and I don’t always follow hype .”
Her opinion of 1871 after the tour? “I think what they’re doing is great. I think it’s needed,” she says. “It’s good to have an initiative like this because others will follow and the Chicago community definitely needs more of it.”
1871 is scheduled to open sometime this spring.
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