Work is moving ahead on a collaborative office space set to open its doors this spring on Market Street.

The 717mkt Office Collaborative aims to open in March in a roughly 13,000-square-foot, brick Market Street building. The collaborative plans to lease office space while offering tenants a range of amenities, including an on-site gym, podcast studio, conference rooms and a rooftop terrace.

The husband-and-wife team of Chris and Natalie Capone founded and owns 717mkt Office Collaborative. Chris Capone is also the CEO of local accounting and bookkeeping firm Capone & Associates. 

“One of the things that we've always wanted to do is have some sort of coworking collaborative where we get to create a spot for like-minded people and entrepreneurs,” Chris Capone said.

They found their opportunity in a building at 717 Market St. Working with Capone & Associates clients and father-and-son investor team Erik and Levi Hemingway, they put an offer in on the building, purchasing it last year.

Property records show Nomad 717 LLC, an entity registered to Erik Hemingway, purchased the building in January 2024 for $993,000. Since then, approximately $2.7 million has been invested in renovating the building, Chris Capone said. 

The structure was first gutted, said Natalie Capone, down to its brick and cinder block walls. New electrical and plumbing systems were installed along with HVAC upgrades and a new roof. 

As of late December, drywall had gone up and the project was shifting its focus to interior finishes. Natalie Capone, who has a background in interior design, has helped guide the renovation and interior upfit process.

Natalie Capone said, for her, it’s important to keep some of the building’s original elements, including the roof’s steel framing and the building’s original pine beams and brick walls. She said the best surprise during the renovation process was discovering the building’s original terrazzo floors under layers of other flooring.

“The building has a lot of history, and we've just been working on learning more about it as we go,” Natalie Capone said, “and trying to keep as much original as possible because we feel that's where a lot of the character comes from.”

During the renovation process, the Capones also found a historical map of the downtown area, which they hope to incorporate into the space with a mural, Natalie Capone said.

Approximately 60% of the space will be used as offices for Capone & Associates while the remaining space will be leased out to a mix of tenants through year-long memberships, Chris Capone said. 

The building’s updated design includes 10 private offices along with six larger group workspaces. The office collaborative also features an 800-square-foot gym and a locker room that’s accessible to tenants along with conference rooms, a podcast studio and a rooftop terrace.

“Selfishly, it’s stuff that I want to use,” Chris Capone said about the amenities. “Being a business owner, entrepreneur, being a dad, it’s just so hard to come by time … It's like, ‘Hey if I could have a gym where I go to work, I will definitely work out more, which is going to make me a better human to be around.”

To help guide them through the process of establishing 717mkt, Chris Capone brought on Bryan Kristof, the former owner of coworking space Coworx, as a consultant. Kristof founded Coworx in 2011 before selling the company in 2020.

“Before COVID, there had been a natural progression for people working from home,” Kristof said. “Technology kind of has developed to the point where it becomes easier to do that. And then really when COVID came, that just flipped the tables on how people work.”

Kristof said he helped the Capones think through marketing, branding and operational aspects of the new business, ranging from lease pricing to the technology infrastructure needed to support multiple companies at once.

Kristof said he expects to see demand continue for coworking and office collaborative spaces as companies' needs evolve.

“I think at the end of the day, and partly what COVID did was to shed some light on it, but bigger companies and smaller companies realize that they can get a workspace without making these huge long-term commitments on a commercial lease,” Kristof said.