Carr Workplaces
Case Study: Why Purdue Research Foundation Chose Carr Workplaces for Coworking Partner and Property Management

Summary: Purdue Research Foundation Partners With Carr Workplaces

Purdue Research Foundation, a non-profit foundation affiliated with Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, selected Carr Workplaces in 2019 to open a coworking center in its Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration.

Choosing Carr Workplaces as its coworking center partner allowed the foundation to: 

• Create a venue in which students, faculty, and industry could interact and collaborate
• Offer a variety of all-inclusive workspaces to students, university-affiliated professionals, and the greater business community
• Build potential partnerships between the university and regional industry
• Encourage internship opportunities for and recruitment of Purdue University students
• Create a space for student interns and co-op members to work in
• Quickly set up the coworking center in anticipation of its opening
• Select one partner to meet both its coworking center and property management needs

Background: Purdue Research Foundation

Purdue Research Foundation is a private nonprofit foundation founded in 1930 to advance the mission of Purdue University. The foundation’s work includes managing endowments and acquiring and constructing university-affiliated facilities, properties, and grounds.

In 2019, while working on behalf of the Purdue Endowment, the foundation sought out a coworking provider with which to partner while planning the construction of its Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration.

The Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration was to be constructed adjacent to the university’s main campus.

The group sought out a coworking center specifically for its new Convergence Center to offer a place in which students, faculty, and industry could interact.

Situated within the university’s 400-acre Discovery Park District, the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration was created to function as a strategic hub for partnership and innovation between the university and private industry.

The center’s 143,000 square feet of new development was envisioned to become “the business front door to Purdue University.” 

The Discovery Park District itself is a $1 billion mixed-used development of industry and research-driven partnerships meant to encourage innovation, creativity, and fruitful startup creation.

The district’s 30-year master plan is designed to create an ecosystem in which university researchers, faculty, and students together can partner with industry to enhance university and private community partnerships. 

Challenges: How To Connect Industry With Students and Faculty

Before construction, the Purdue Research Foundation (PRF) planned to include an event center, several floors of traditional office space, and a coworking center in the construction of its Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration.

“There was no building there, but PRF had the vision for what they wanted it to be,” explained Shawn Wilson, Regional Director, Carr Workplaces.

“They had the vision that they wanted a coworking space to be able to bring in companies that wanted to interact not only with the research foundation and with the different departments within the university but perhaps even more importantly with the students,” she added.

Included in that vision was the idea that the center could facilitate connections between students and private industry for internships and potential recruitment, meeting the dual needs of students and regional businesses.

“Everyone is in need of talent right now,” noted Ethan Kingery, General Manager, Carr Workplaces Convergence coworking center.

“Purdue University offers some of the best talent in the world, so having a foothold here allows industry and business to build a pipeline of talent. The idea was to allow companies to target freshmen and sophomores as potential interns and then as they become juniors and seniors to extend full-time job offers to them,” he added.

PRF envisioned larger companies would occupy the traditional office space within the Convergence Center, while companies in search of a smaller footprint could leverage the flexible workspaces in the on-site coworking center.

The foundation also preferred to work with a coworking provider that could offer all-inclusive workspaces to students, university-affiliated professionals, and the broader business community.

Additionally, PRF sought a coworking partner that would be able to get its new coworking center up and running quickly to meet the needs of the university and its partners. PRF also was in search of a property management company to manage the entire Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration building.

The Solution: Enlist Carr Workplaces, a Coworking Partner With Property Management Capabilities

Purdue Research Foundation ultimately chose Carr Workplaces to set up and manage the coworking center within its Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration. The decision was influenced by a Purdue University alum who had previous positive experiences working at Carr Workplaces Aon Center in Chicago.

“What is special about Carr Workplaces being chosen was that a client who is an alum of Purdue suggested that PRF consider us for the project,” explained Wilson. “The alum was very familiar with what and how we do it because she had utilized our Chicago location.

“That gave us a foot in the door and allowed our Chief Operating Officer to have that conversation and talk about what we do in our day-to-day operations. The decision-makers within PRF liked what they heard and visited our other locations. As those conversations continued, it made sense as a really good partnership for all involved. Our goals and how we run our centers aligned well with the experiences PRF wanted their clients and partners to have,” Wilson added.

According to Wilson, leadership within PRF also was thrilled that Carr Workplaces was interested in expanding its presence into the Midwest. At the time, Carr Workplaces coworking centers were primarily situated on the East Coast and West Coast. 

Once the partnership became official, PRF leadership worked with Carr Workplaces leadership and managers to design the coworking space to meet the needs of its future clients. After building construction was completed, the coworking center was quickly set up and ready for action within a short time span.

Carr Workplaces Convergence Coworking Center: The Finished Product

The finished Carr Workplaces Convergence coworking center includes over 20,000 square feet of space that occupies a portion of the first and second floors of The Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration.

The coworking center features 68 state-of-the-art private offices that each include four solid walls and lockable doors. Full-Time Private Office, Part-Time Private Office, Flex Office, and Private Office Day options allow for the flexibility of short-term and long-term leases.

Carr Workplaces Convergence also provides university students, administrators, and faculty with access to shared workspaces within the center. Shared workspaces included Dedicated Desks, Touchdown Desks, and drop-in Day Pass options. Three high-end meeting and conference rooms are available for booking in the coworking center, as well.

All workspaces at the Convergence center feature all-inclusive lease terms with no hidden up-charges or add-on fees. Clients at the coworking center enjoy access to the coworking center’s friendly on-site community management team who can greet guests, assist with presentations and copying, and even receive deliveries and mail on behalf of the center’s clients. 

Carr Workplaces was also selected to manage the entire Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration building as its property manager. This includes the event center on the first floor of the building. The first-floor event center features four different event spaces that can accommodate between 28 and 250 attendees. 

“Our event center gives companies the ability to come and really wine and dine students and other partners from the university,” said Wilson. “The event space has been so successful here that they’re considering adding another conference room to the building so that it can be utilized by more people.”

In addition to serving as the property manager of the building, Carr Workplaces provides virtual and in-person support services for tenants on all five floors of the Convergence Center.

Results: A Vision Comes to Fruition in West Lafayette

Ethan Kingery was hired at the beginning of 2020 as the General Manager of Carr Workplaces Convergence. The Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration and the new coworking center opened just after that in February of 2020 — and just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States.  

The pandemic’s arrival initially delayed move-ins for many clients. Today, however, the coworking center is approaching maximum capacity. 

“The success of the center has been a long time coming,” Wilson said. “We all had goals that were in place but the rug was kind of pulled out from underneath us as the pandemic hit just as we were opening. It took a little bit longer because we had to build back after the pandemic because obviously people were not coming to work, but today the coworking center is pretty much packed to the gills. There’s very little space available, which is a wonderful problem to have.”

High occupancy at Carr Workplaces Convergence coworking center is being driven by a multitude of factors, according to Kingery. Chief among these is access to students, which is precisely what PRF leadership envisioned when designing the project.

“Really, students are the driving factor, as well as proximity to the university,” Kingery said. “The coworking center gives folks an opportunity to engage with Purdue University, whether it’s the student piece, they’re interested in research occurring at Purdue, or they want to license technology that’s coming out of Purdue. Also, this is a small community with a population of about 170,000. It’s a close-knit community and there’s no other space like this in the area.”

The coworking center’s bright colors, floor to ceiling windows, and vibrant community offer a locale where people want to come in and work in, says Kingery. The coworking center’s beautiful, professional workspaces are unmatched in the region.

The Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration is a Class A building, the only building of its kind in the county. According to Kingery, larger companies in the region want to utilize the spaces available because the building itself is considered a crown jewel for the region.

Despite opening in the midst of the pandemic, Carr Workplaces Convergence coworking center has met nearly all of the goals, including occupancy goals, initially established with PRF. Kingery and Wilson hold monthly calls with PRF ownership to check in and ensure that all parties are on track to achieve shared sales goals and to address any issues that may arise.

“When you go into these agreements with ownership, there is a pro forma that is created that is meant to align what the property ownership’s goals are with what we feel we can deliver,” Wilson said. “We did not hit our targets that first year, like everyone else, because of the pandemic.”

“Since that time, we have hit every target established. This year, the coworking center is doing the best that it has done and it will do better this year than it did the previous year. We are getting to the point now given occupancy that we can’t achieve much more than we already have because there is only so much space that we can fill. Ownership is happy with the dollars and cents that the space is bringing in. The end product is truly a beautiful space,” Wilson added.

Beyond the financial aspect of the partnership, the coworking center has created exactly the kind of collaborative, student-centered environment the property owners initially envisioned: one that would allow businesses from the area and beyond to partner with various student, faculty, and research communities within the university.

Kingery shared that some companies rent private offices at the coworking center for students to use for coding projects and other professional activities, rather than having students work from home.

Other businesses lease private offices or Dedicated Desks for their interns and their project managers overseeing their work. The coworking center also is getting heavy use by co-op students who will come to the center to work for a few hours before heading to class across the street at the university.

“Carr Workplaces provides an important component for the Convergence Center and all that is happening on the west side of the Purdue University campus,” said David Broecker, Chief Innovation and Collaboration Officer for Purdue Research Foundation. “The entrepreneurial community across the state is already taking advantage of what Carr can offer as a coworking hub in our Discovery Park District.”

Key Takeaways: Why Purdue Research Foundation Chose Carr Workplaces for Coworking and Property Management

• Ability to provide a vibrant space in which students, faculty, and industry can interact and collaborate together
• Access to a variety of all-inclusive workspaces for use by students, university-affiliated professionals, and the greater business community
• Ability to customize the coworking space to meet the needs of its future clients
• Quick set up of the coworking center in anticipation of its opening
• One partnership to meet PRF’s coworking center and property management needs
• All-inclusive lease terms, on-site services and amenities

To explore Carr Workplaces’ coworking and property management services, schedule a free tour of a center near you or call us at (866) 983-5819.