Coworking News
New-style coworking concept Switchyards from Atlanta to open in Dallas
Switchyards
A new kind of shared workspace is coming to Dallas: Called Switchyards, it's an Atlanta based chain that calls itself "the world’s first neighborhood work club," and it will open in Oak Cliff at 610 N. Tyler St., in the space most previously occupied by Boxwood Hospitality (Cliff House), and Good Shepherd Church, which is moving to Wax Space.
According to a statement, it'll open on August 25.
Switchyards was founded in 2019 by CEO Michael Tavani with a goal of creating “a place in your neighborhood purpose-built to sit with your laptop, grab a coffee, and get some good work done.” There are currently 29 locations including a dozen around Atlanta, plus locations across the southeast. There's also a location in Austin, which opened in mid-June.
They describe themselves as a combination of a coffee shop, college library, and boutique hotel lobby, located in residential neighborhoods. Unlike some other co-working concepts that are in business areas requiring a commute, Switchyards strives to be within 10 minutes of its members' homes.
Each club features a bustling coffee shop look and feel, with quiet areas for focused work, and bookable conference rooms and phone booths for meetings.
Notably, it’s open 24/7, and has free coffee with a cost — $100 a month — that's more like a gym membership. You're given a key and can enter whenever you want. Rather than renting offices, it's a place to go to for a few hours of focused work around others. And members get access to every Switchyards location.
They have some groundrules that include not moving the furniture, no eating full meals (they say the smells and the mess create a negative experience for everyone else in the club), no work stations, and no calls, meetings, speakerphone, or zooms in public spaces.
Memberships are generally limited and supposedly sell out quickly.
They just opened a location in Austin in mid-June; Switchyards Creative Director Brandon Hinman said “It’s almost like a Ritz-Carlton and a dive bar had a baby. It does have that luxe feel, it does feel generous, it does feel dialed in, but it also has a little bit of ‘Cheers’ to it, a little bit of that neighborhood pub to it, and that’s the balance we’re trying to hit.”
