Scott Kirsner of Globe ColumnistSo says the price is too expensive, so that some startups find that renting a luxury apartment nearby is more than competing with Amazon, Staples, Google, and countless small biotechnology.
Last week I went to visit Yesware at Archstone Kendall Square to see when an 8-
Personal company becomes two
Bedroom apartment.
Yesware helps sales people manage their Electronics
Email communication with potential customers;
The company raised $1 million from Google Ventures and Foundry Group last year.
When I visited, the Hall and Hall of the building were empty.
Chief executive Matthew Belos greeted me at the gate of their fourth floor apartment.
"No one else is there during the day," he explained. "when all the others come home from work, we leave here at seven o'clock P. M. or 6. " Bellows (
Picture on the left side of the kitchen)
He said he was "completely ahead" of the rental office of the building ".
Bellows says the company has a maximum of eight employees, but sometimes two or three contractors or interns come to work. (
When I visited, I counted it.
A dozen employees work in a place that is usually a living room. )
Due to the east facing windows, the apartment has better natural light than most offices.
All the furniture came from Ikea, explained Bellows: "We rented a U-
Then we hired a Task Rabbit to assemble it.
"Everything else comes from Amazon, including computers, monitors, LCD projectors and some beautiful adhesives that turn the walls of one bedroom into whiteboards.
The bedroom with a whiteboard wall turned into a meeting room.
Is the other bedroom (
Right picture); co-
Founder Cashman Andrus lives in Brazil, but he sleeps there when he is in town.
Bellows says the rent is $3500, and once the space available for the nearby Dogpatch Labs facility is exceeded, that is beyond the company's other options. (
The rent there is covered by the venture capital company Polaris Venture Capital. )
"Everything else we see in Kendall and East Cambridge is at least $5000 a month, and it takes three-to five-
Annual lease, "said Bellows.
"With these, the danger for startups is that you might rent too much space or rent too little.
It is difficult to predict what will happen.
"Archstone's apartment is month-to-
He explained.
It does not require any investment in the building.
In addition to the electricity bill, the only service they paid was Comcast's "business class" internet connection for $150 a month. (
Employees make phone calls on Skype and mobile phones. )
At least three other startups have rented space in Archstone, but they all plan to move to various neighborhoods in Boston soon. (
Two of them, Yesware and Objective Logistics, will remain neighbors: they have found space in the same leather District Building. )
Bellows said Yesware will move out in June.
"Our rent will increase a bit, $20 per square foot, but we will have 5000 square feet, which gives us room to grow," he said . ".
As for renting a house in Kendall or Dongjian Bridge, Bellows said, "startups will flee.
For any startup, paying $40 or $50 per square foot is a waste of money.
Another tech entrepreneur who rented an apartment for his company in Central Square said he paid $20 per square foot for £ 2000
Square foot unit. (
The entrepreneur asked me not to mention his name or the name of his company because his landlord was not aware of the situation. )
Everything else he sees in Central and Kendall is more expensive, and in many cases his company has too much space.
"We saw some cooperation.
He wrote via email: "Job options
"But about $500 per table, it's almost the same price for a quarter of space.
In addition, we feel a common
The working space will not allow us to develop our own culture.
"A person who answered the phone at the Archstone rental office told me that if tenants choose to maintain the home office in their apartment, the management of the building is OK, "Nothing can stop 10 people from coming to their apartment.
"He didn't want to reveal his name and told me that no one else was authorized to talk to the media.
Brian Murphy, assistant city manager at Cambridge, told me that "it's hard to regulate what's going on in private homes," but "zoning enforcement is largely a complaint --driven.
Unless the activity bothers neighbors, the inspection service department will not be involved in "cracking down on startups hanging out in apartments or houses ".
Murphy, who is in charge of community planning in Cambridge city, said it is clear that Kendall Square needs more office space to help reduce rent and avoid companies moving into apartment buildings.
"We like these companies here," he said . " He pointed out that big companies like Hewlett
Packard started in the garage.
"We want to do what we can to ensure that Kendall's innovative economy is booming.