Coworking space The Mill continues breakneck growth

Wilmington's largest, independently-owned coworking space is growing faster than co-founder Robert Herrera ever expected.

"It's mind-boggling," said the 31-year-old behind The Mill on the fourth floor of the Nemours Building.

"My initial projections were to begin work on the second phase sometime in 2018," he said. "But demand has been so great that we're now expecting to have the entire floor built out sometime this year."

Later this month, The Mill will mark the opening of a nearly 10,000-square-foot addition that will extend its footprint to three-quarters of the total floor space available on the 14-story building's fourth floor. The $2.5 million project is being backed by a Downtown Development District grant awarded in January.

Construction on the final section — a 10,000-square-foot wing facing North Orange Street — is expected to begin this summer.

"What Robert has been able to do in such a short amount of time is nothing short of remarkable," said Robert Buccini, co-president of The Buccini/Pollin Group, the building's owner. "I've been to every great coworking space in New York and D.C. and I don't think you can find a well-designed operation as the one he's put together."

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Now common in most large cities, coworking is still a relatively new model in the commercial real estate market. Rather than renting whole offices under multi-year leases, coworking spaces allow startups, freelancers and consultants to pay monthly rental fees for shared equipment and desk space, where they often work elbow-to-elbow with one another. The entry cost for renters is low, while the opportunities for collaboration and community building are high.

At 12,000-square-feet, The Mill became the city's biggest coworking space when it officially opened last April, surpassing the recently expanded 1313 Innovation, which occupies 10,000 square feet on the ground floor of the Hercules Building, and the coIN Loft, a 4,500-square foot space on Market Street that opened in 2010.

The Mill currently includes nine private offices that seat up to four, each available for $1,200 per month, along with 34 rentable desks for $350 a month and four conference rooms available on a first-come, first-served basis. Roughly 60 "solopreneurs" and freelancers also have paid a $45 community membership fee to set up shop at a 28-foot, custom-built docking station.

All members get free Wi-Fi access, a discount card to area restaurants and CoreTen Fitness on the first floor, access to The Mill's full kitchen and working bar sponsored by Dogfish Head Brewery, and the opportunity to hold events in Theatre N, the art house theater in the same building.

Herrara said he surveyed his current tenants on what is else they wanted before designing Phase II, which includes four eight-person office spaces, along with a dozen 8-by-10-foot rooms designed to house one or two people at a cost of $700 to $800 a month.

"There's a huge demand for these larger offices among companies that can afford to pay a little more, but don't want to get locked into a long-term lease," Herrera said. "They're right at the cusp and this is the sweet spot for them."

The central hall in Phase II is fitted out with a steel bar that rises out of the floor, etched with words “The Mill.” Overtop are several rentable sit-stand desks, custom-made by Jim Buckley of Montchanin’s JKB Design, the same craftsman who made the docking station in Phase I. The addition of those desks will allow The Mill to use some of its former shared office spaces exclusively as conference rooms, Herrera said.

The new section also includes a soundproofed podcasting suite, 48 lockers where members can stow their laptops and other gear overnight and three private booths stocked with VoIP phones where members can make free calls anywhere in the U.S. or use video calling features like Skype and FaceTime.

“Of course, you can use your cellphone too,” Herrera said. “But the idea is to give people space to call where they won’t be overheard by other members.”

As an added touch, an “On Air” sign lights up outside each booth when in use.

"The new section definitely has a different feel to it," said John Himics, half of the two-person branding and design startup First Ascent Design he launched with his wife Pauline. "Phase I is the fun space where you hold events, while Phase II is more of a get-stuff-done area. It's quieter and a longer walk to the beer."

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Herrara said he is now in negotiations with a business interested in leasing 6,250 square feet in what soon will become Phase 3, a project he designed while juggling his duties managing Phase 1, overseeing the Phase 2 move-in and managing Theatre N, which The Mill took over from the city last fall.

"Maybe I'll actually get an office of my own in this round," said Herrera, who often sneaks off to a construction office on the Nemours Building's first floor to get his own work done.

"I had one at one point but we sold it within a couple weeks of opening and then I took a desk but I sold that too," he said. "Everyone else can get work done at The Mill but I can’t. People are constantly knocking on my door."

Contact business reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story misidentified The Mill as Wilmington's largest coworking space. The multinational corporation Regus operates a 23,000-square-foot coworking space on the 12th floor of the Brandywine Building at 1000 N. West St.