Today is a really special day, because it’s the day we get to announce the biggest news in Common Desk history to date. Common Desk has been operating as a DFW-based coworking and workday amenities brand for 6 years and counting now, but as of this month, we are officially spreading our wings and soaring to new heights (also known as new markets) outside of Dallas-Fort Worth. And we could not be more excited to announce that the first market we’re landing in is none other than the capital of our home state– Austin, Texas!
Yep, You Heard That Right– Common Desk Is Officially Heading To Austin!
This announcement is special for more than just a new market expansion, though. It’s also special because of how we’re getting to expand.
We’re excited to share that Common Desk has acquired an original Austin coworking provider (and good friend of ours), Link Coworking! Link Coworking was one of the very first coworking brands to open in Austin (just like Common Desk was in Dallas), and they’ve been serving ATX with a home-grown coworking experience since 2010. With this acquisition, Common Desk is now running and managing Link’s three currently open coworking spaces in North Austin, and we have big plans for new Common Desk spaces to open across Austin throughout 2019 and beyond (keep reading to hear more on that!).
We’ve wanted to get into Austin for several years now, because we believe that Austin and Common Desk align in more ways than one. Acquiring Link Coworking was a perfect way to establish an immediate presence in the city and continue the legacy of one of the great, original coworking brands of Austin.
Nick Clark, CEO of Common Desk
Our friendship with Link Coworking dates back to 2013, one year after Common Desk opened in Dallas. Nick, being a brand new coworking owner and operator, caught wind of a big coworking conference, GCUC (aka the Global Coworking Unconference Conference and pronounced “juicy”) happening in Austin just a few days before its start and decided spur of the moment to attend. At the conference, Liz Elam, Founder of Link Coworking and GCUC, was one of the first people Nick met, and they’ve been coworking pals ever since. Now, 6 years later, the idea to merge brands was hatched between both Nick and Liz, and they each realized the best thing for both coworking brands was for Common Desk to take over Link and for Liz to pursue GCUC full time.
I met Nick Clark 7 years ago at GCUC and we became fast friends. Now, 7 years later, I’m so happy to have Link joining forces with Common Desk. I couldn’t think of a better brand to carry our legacy forward. I’ve poured my heart and soul into this business for over 8 years, and this is the perfect transition to take Link to the next level.
Liz Elam, Founder of Link Coworking & GCUC
So What’s Next For Liz And The Link Team?
Liz and her team at Link are excited to get to spend their days working whole-heartedly on GCUC full-time. GCUC is the largest coworking conference series in the world, having multiple conferences across a vast variety of countries every few months. Needless to say, Liz and her team will have plenty to do over at GCUC, and we can’t wait to watch our favorite coworking conference continue to grow under their full-time watch.
And What’s Next For Link’s Coworking Members?
Link’s members will soon become Common Desk members, and they will now have access to Common Desk’s coworking locations in DFW, as well as our future locations across Austin and beyond. We plan to do some updates to the currently open spaces to help them feel a little more aligned with our spaces in Dallas, and we’ll also bring new community events, fun perks like Red Bull and Topo Chico, and of course new staff to the spaces already running.
What Does This Mean For Common Desk Members?
Now, Common Desk members have a network of coworking spaces to work from across Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin. All DFW-based coworking memberships will work in Austin, meaning our members have an easy opportunity to grow and expand their businesses to new markets as we continue to grow and expand ours (which is exactly why we love growing!).
And we’re sure you’re still wondering about what new locations we’ll be opening across Austin. As of right now, we’re actively working on a new space in a historic building right in the heart of Downtown Austin. There are other locations in the wheelhouse, too, but the one in Downtown has us especially stoked. We’ll share more on that in upcoming months, but all you need to know now is to be excited– and we mean REALLY excited– for this space.
This big Austin announcement comes on the heels of the signing of 3 other Common Desk coworking locations across DFW in the past 6 months. Long story short, we’ve got a lot of work to do to open locations in a lot of new and amazing places, and we couldn’t be more excited for the joy ride ahead of us.
If you’re interested in learning more about Common Desk in Austin, head to our contact page to shoot us an inquiry! Link Coworking is still Link for the time being, but it has Common Desk staffers and a strong community ready to welcome anyone in Austin needing an office home. To learn more about Link’s current offerings, head to their website here.
We’re so excited to start coworking in Austin and fall even more in love with the city as a whole. Keep up with our progress on Common Desk’s Instagram, and hold onto your cowboy hats, because more exciting news is still to come!
