Remember when we announced that we’re heading to Downtown Dallas with a coworking location in Trammell Crow Center? Well, the downtown party train’s not stopping, because we’re officially heading to the West End, too! We’re excited to finally share that we’ll be bringing coworking to Granite Properties’ adaptive reuse project at Factory Six03, one of the most historically iconic buildings in Dallas. The West End is where the City of Dallas started, and, at one time, it housed some of the city’s biggest companies. With a smart park on the way and a rising number of tech companies moving into the neighborhood, the West End is gradually becoming the “Innovation District” of Dallas, and we’re excited to be working with Granite Properties to play a role in rebooting the West End as a key business and innovation center in our city.
Common Desk officially turned 6 years old this month, and we’re overjoyed to get to announce our sixth location to date during the same month as our 6th anniversary. Common Desk – Factory Six03 will occupy 18,085 square feet of space in the first floor of Factory Six03, and we have lots of exciting plans in store for our first West End coworking location. Common Desk – Factory Six03 is going to showcase the historic building’s beautiful exposed brick, concrete textures, mosaic tile floors, and huge factory-style paned windows that let in all the natural light your heart could desire. One of the many things we love about Factory Six03 is that Granite Properties found a way to take a 115 year-old historic warehouse and turn it into an office development ready to match the tech and innovation that the West End is beginning to accommodate. When history and innovation are paired together, beautiful things happen, and we can’t wait to see all of the special opportunities that arise for future members of Common Desk – Factory Six03.
The Factory Six03 building has always been one of my favorite buildings in Dallas, and we’re excited to work on our second location with Granite Properties. As we continue to grow and evolve our branded amenity offerings, we’ve become experts on programming and activating common areas in office buildings. We’re excited to show that off with Granite Properties providing an experience for the tenant that is unmatched in and around the CBD.
Nick Clark, CEO & Founder of Common Desk
Why West End Coworking?
There are a lot of key features that will set this Common Desk coworking space apart from the others. Like what, you ask? To start, our West End coworking space will feature a vinyl record lounge with a large collection of both vintage and current records (music lovers, get excited), an open-air mezzanine (our signature) and tiered office spaces that work together to create a multi-level work atmosphere, and a wet bar that will serve craft cocktails daily (don’t worry, the token beer on tap will be present, too). Common Desk – Factory Six03 will also have a library wall with a built-in book nook (for anyone who wants to feel like a modern-day Hemingway while they’re working), as well as various soft seating areas like the booths you know and love in Granite Park and Oak Cliff, collaborative banquets, and cozy couches that will make you feel like you’re right back at your home office (minus the distractions).
The Factory Six03 building itself is an unmissable brick icon situated right along the West End portion of the Woodall Rodgers Freeway (you’ve probably noticed it while stuck in traffic on the WRF). As we mentioned above, Factory Six03 is over a century old, meaning the building has housed a lot of different businesses in its time. One of our favorite historical features of the building is this massive historic brick smokestack that made delicious biscuits back in the 1920s when the building was Brown Cracker & Candy Company. This massive smokestack will be a true conversation piece within Common Desk – Factory Six03, so get excited to cowork next to history! The renovated building now has a modern and artistic feel that strategically pairs with the historical accents like original exposed brick and the two-story biscuit oven preserved from the original building, making it a true “New Age Workplace.”
Common Desk’s West End coworking space will be ideal for anyone wanting to experience the innovation that the West End is beginning to see, anyone wanting to keep all aspects of their daily lives in a revitalized area that’s in proximity to Downtown and Victory Park, and anyone who wants to work from a true Dallas icon alongside rich history and noteworthy tenants like Blue Cross Blue Shield Innovation Labs of Texas and the Sam’s Club technology group. Also worth mentioning is that the top floor of Factory Six03 features a collaborative lounge and meeting space that we call “The Stack,” and it houses shared work areas, a shared kitchen, and an outdoor patio that boasts one of the best rooftop views of the Dallas skyline that the city has to offer (get ready to take your workday grams to a whole new level).
So many Dallasites still remember seeing movies here, playing arcade games in the basement, or partying in Dallas Alley, and now these same people have an opportunity to work in this refreshed building to create new memories while reflecting positively on the ones they’ve already made here. Common Desk does such an incredible job of combining different tastes and different industries, and as the Community Manager of this location, I’m excited to see what the culture and community of this particular space will be, because I truly believe it’s going to be unique in every way.
Megan Baynham, Community Manager of Common Desk – Factory Six03
Common Desk – Factory Six03 is our second location with Granite Properties, and, like we mentioned above, it’ll be our sixth location in DFW. Common Desk and Granite Properties kicked off our first location together at Granite Park V last year, which you know as Common Desk – Granite Park. We love working with Granite Properties because they give us an opportunity to help, not just Common Desk, but an entire building, to feel and function more like a hospitality-oriented space, and we are looking forward to using a similar approach like the one we used in Plano for Common Desk – Factory Six03. Factory tenants and Common Desk members will have access to the building’s amenities, like Factory’s rooftop lounge and first floor Food Hall, which is slated to open early next year as well.
Every Common Desk location features original pieces of art from local artists, and to elevate the art in Factory Six03, Common Desk has engaged Dallas-based Artist Uprising to assist in the curation of all art that will be showcased throughout Common Desk – Factory Six03. Every artist contributing their work to Common Desk – Factory Six03 will be performing live art during all of Common Desk’s pre-opening happy hours / first looks at their West End coworking facility. Anyone interested in getting a first-look of Common Desk’s West End coworking space can see the art being created first-hand (and in some cases, contribute to the creation of the piece), then can enjoy the artwork around the finished space once it opens.
So many of us grew up going to Factory Six03 when it operated as the West End Marketplace Mall. It’s a one-of-a-kind opportunity in Dallas to deliver an offering that’ll be different from any other coworking space in the urban core,” said Clark.
Scheduled to open at the beginning of next year, Factory Six03 will be the sixth Common Desk shared office location in DFW and will bring our brand’s portfolio to five locations total upon opening (heyo!). Common Desk – Trammell Crow Center will follow Common Desk – Factory Six03’s opening, and we’re beyond excited to cowork alongside noteworthy professionals and businesses across Downtown Dallas as a whole. Be on the lookout for updates coming in the very near future, as well as the ability to sign up for pre-opening tours coming soon!
West End, let’s get this party started!
