The Mill plans major expansion in two locations by this fall
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The Mill will more than double in size by this fall after taking a second floor in the downtown Nemours building
and adding 20,000 square feet in a new location at 3411 Silverside Road.
The Mill is a great example of a co-working space, which normally involves a shared workplace and independent activity with members or participants who are not employed by the same organization. Typically, they are attractive to work-at-home professionals, independent contractors, independent scientists or people who travel frequently. They are often the first stop for early-stage entrepreneurs wanting a professional address as they grow and seek investors.
“When we opened on April 1, 2016, we anticipated filling out our space on the fourth floor [of the Nemours building on North Orange Street] within five years,” said founder Robert Herrera. “We did that in half the time. I never anticipated we’d have 400 members” like the space has now.
The Mill will go from its current 33,000 square feet to 86,000 square feet following completion of the seventh-floor upfit and construction on the Silverside Road location. The new site is within the Baynard building, part of Buccini/Pollin’s Concord Plaza project.
Herrera said expansion at the current location will cost $3.6 million, while The Mill at Concord has a total project budget of $1.8 million including interior demolition; revamping HVAC, electrical, and mechanical; and adding garage doors. Funding for both projects is coming from private investment and some debt. At this point, he is not using downtown development grants as he did for his first expansion at Nemours.
Herrera said current tenants are mostly on month-to-month leases as they grow, with the longest leases at about a year. He’ll follow that same business model in the new location but anticipates offering longer-term leases – two to five years – on the seventh floor, targeting companies that are a bit further along in their development.
Community memberships start at $50 per month, with desk and office options ranging from $300 to $4,050
for a 15-by-27 space.
The Mill was recently recognized by BigSevenTravel.com, ranking No. 8 in a reader survey of the 50 best co-working spaces in the nation.
“Featuring a state-of-the-art design that mixes modern architecture with timeless style, The Mill Space was built to meet the needs of freelancers and Fortune 500 companies alike. They have created a community that is unmatched by any other co-working space in the area,” the review said.
Recent new tenants include Acorns, a millennial-centric mobile app to drive savings and investments, and the DuPont Digital Center, where tenants are working on 40 companywide projects at any given time to drive
digital transformation.