Business

Classy office shares

When people visit Matthew Maroney’s office, they can’t help but notice the prime location, the stunning architecture and the impeccably designed workspace.

What they don’t see is that Maroney’s a “secret sharer.”

The Long Island lawyer works alongside two dozen unrelated businesses in a “Class A” building at a prestigious address. He also reaps revenue from the arrangement, as the co-managing director (with wife and fellow attorney Cristina Prieto Maroney) of The Intelligent Office’s Melville location. The business rents office space, back-office services and conference rooms to sole proprietors and small businesses.

“We have lawyers, financial planners, accountants, consultants, healthcare professionals, a plumber, a hypnotist and all kinds of other entrepreneurs, and we’ve enabled every one of them to run their business with low overhead. We’d like to think we help our clients survive and thrive in this economy,” said Maroney.

The Maroneys are part of an emerging industry — professionals jumping on the one-man-bandwagon. Offering help with everything from temporary offices to business-partner selection, these companies, often run by the owners themselves, give newly minted “solopreneurs” access to some of the trappings of corporate employment without the expense or the commitment.

“Tying business down with large up-front capital expenditures and long-term lease agreements for their smaller space requirements is absolute madness,” opined Harsh Mehta, COO for the Manhattan-based OfficeLinks, another fast-growing office-rental business.

With four New York sites and a fifth in Chicago’s Willis (formerly Sears) Tower, OfficeLinks is expanding while other businesses contract. Its ace in the hole is the huge inventory of undervalued commercial real estate freed up by waves of corporate purges, and a growing population of potential clients.

Close to 90 percent of US businesses in the 2007 census consisted of a lone individual, or “solopreneur.” Once the newest Census numbers are crunched, the number is likely to be even greater. As these mini-operations proliferate, the businesses serving them increase, too.

The Maroneys sensed the trend three years ago, when they ventured into the office-rental business on the eve of the recession. The couple acquired two floors of a sleek office building on a prestigious business corridor in Melville. They gut-renovated the space to accommodate 19 individual offices, three conference rooms and a well-appointed reception area.

As a linchpin, they installed a sophisticated phone service that allows each entrepreneur to customize telephone greetings, allowing one receptionist to take orders, maintain calendars, explain product offerings and set up meetings for many different organizations. Thanks to the economy, they could select from an abundance of tech-savvy assistants at reasonable rates.

“We love the fact that we’re in business in this wicked economy and doing well,” said Maroney. Sharing has yielded serendipitous benefits for their tenants, too. Some entrepreneurs combined parts of their businesses to broaden their reach, while others functioned as referral services for their office neighbors. And just about all the occupants appreciate the camaraderie of the workplace “water cooler.”

“The best thing about sharing space is the ability to network with other professionals in the same office. Here, you can socialize and talk shop,” remarked bankruptcy lawyer and Intelligent Office client Taran Provost. Maroney and his tenants heartily agree. They love their fancy digs, their new friends, and their access to pooled resources.

Besides, shrugs Maroney, “nobody has to know you’re sharing.”

Space stations

Many small businesses that cannot afford office space in the city can still have a “presence” in Manhattan by renting space per diem.

Midtown

1440 Broadway (photo) 23rd Floor

Chelsea

33 West 19th St 4th Floor

Wall Street

40 Wall St 28th Floor

Long Island

Intelligent Office Melville