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Renee C. Byer / rbyer@sacbee.com
Jeff Louie, left, co-founder of Capsity Offices, is filmed by Bill Olen for a promotional piece. Louie and business partner Ricardo Robles rent out office space by the hour at two Sacramento sites to a variety of entrepreneurs trying to keep down their costs.
Capsity Offices offers business space by the hour
Published: Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 6BThe business partners took a look at the empty suite of offices in Sacramento's midtown and made the owner an offer: Trust in our concept and we'll fill the space.
Little more than a year later, Ricardo Robles and Jeff Louie have more than made good on their promise, building a campus of entrepreneurs in different professions working together under the same roof.
"Co-working," it's called, and it thrives at Robles and Louie's Capsity Offices at 23rd and P streets in midtown and on Third Avenue in the city's Curtis Park neighborhood.
It's a concept that's catching on as the recession keeps money tight for business owners and has forced more people out of corporate jobs to fend for themselves. Instead of paying monthly rent, tenants buy a certain number of hours when they can use a desk, office or conference room.
"We saw businesses going out of business, people reducing their overhead," said Robles, 26. "(Businesses) were looking at other types of spaces that were available. People who were laid off needed a place to work that wasn't Starbucks. This was a positive for us."
It's one of several similar office spaces in Sacramento, including midtown's the Urban Hive at 19th and H streets, and national outfits like Regus and Pacific Business Centers.
Capsity has attracted 40 clients in a wide variety of fields. They have one thing in common: They want an office space to call their own, but without the high lease rates and permit fees that swell startup costs and so often doom new enterprises.
