Passing by the walls of the bluest building in Bushwick at 2 St. Nicholas Ave, you’ll notice at least one photoshoot going on there at any day of the week. The mesmerizing blue color literally screams invites to the passersby: “Come on, take a picture here.”
Recently, the building rebranded itself as “The Common” hinting some interesting changes happening within its blue walls.
“We are a physical social network for the creatives,” Jonathan Pease, community manager of the space explained. “We wanted to take the idea of a community space further than just a bunch of people coming to one space.”
Coworking space at The Common charges only $5/day
And so The Common owner Joseph Woolridge sat down with Jonathan and they asked themselves: “What do creative people need for inspiration? What kind of space do they need? Can we offer some mind body benefits in addition to our office/art studios for rent?” The answer to these questions came in a form and shape of a coworking space, photo studio, yoga room including an ambitious roster of networking parties.
The important factor, Jonathan tells us, is affordability so that artists and other creatives are able to build and grow business and make their art.
And the space truly is invitingly affordable. You can come coworking in The Common for only $5 per day (or $25 per week or $100 per month). In addition to the reliable Fios internet connection, The Common offers complimentary drinking water, fruit and coffee.
The photo studio is spacious, well lit and comes with a full lightning equipment for only $50/hour. The offices/artist studios start on $450 per month, which is not bad at all given that in other art buildings in Bushwick you can easily pay double.
Nice photo studio is $50/hour
The programming of the yoga studio is currently in works. They have a community yoga classes going on during the weekends and besides your typical vinyasa, there’s talk of candlelit yoga with a live DJ. (Yes, please!)
Another interesting aspect of The Common’s endeavor is their focus on fostering the community through events. “We are really focused on photographers, fashion designers, DJs, and artists,” tells us Jonathan. “Rather than coming to events where there is a little bit of everybody, and you as a creative are in a minority, we’ve build a really good community; a 50:50 mix of very established people with people who are just starting out in the industry,” Jonathan continues.
“Our goal is to create an event where you walk through the door and everybody you ever wanted to meet is there.”
In order to have a “higher caliber” people present, both Jonathan and Joseph called a lot of favors and connections. Jonathan has been working for 15 years as a fashion photographer and Joseph is a painting alum from Cooper Union. “It’s like taking the best of networking and the hottest party you can imagine and putting them together,” Jonathan added.
The Common has been open for a little over two months, and as the men agree, right now their biggest challenge is to get people through the door. “People don’t even know we’re here, but when they come in, they’re like WOW!” said Jonathan.
Just minutes from the Jefferson L train stop, the location is more than ideal, with Bushwick’s most popular bars and restaurants just around the corner (The Bodega, The Rookery, Union Pizza Works, Lot 45, among others.)
The Common has started to work with Liquid Space, which is something like Airbnb for non-residential spaces, where you can rent an office or a photo studio without a long term lease, for a day or even an hour.
Joseph operates five similar spaces in New York, three of which are in Bushwick (the other two are located at 44 Stewart Ave).
Wait a minute… Is this Bushwick Daily editorial meeting? It just might be 🙂
The Common is 2 St. Nicholas Ave (corner Jefferson St), Bushwick. Check out their website or pop in in person to see the space for yourself.
