The coronavirus pandemic has forced entrepreneurs to rethink their office lives and their home lives, which are increasingly intertwined.
For some, it's an opportune time to vacate a lease where the environment wasn't a good fit, especially those who foresee working from home for a year-plus. For others, the general uncertainty has made it unappealing to sign a long-term lease for themselves or their startups.
Ying McGuire, who bought and renovated a downtown bed and breakfast, saw those factors as an opportunity to expand the use of the space as the pandemic dramatically reduced demand for short-term guests.
McGuire, who grew up in China and came to the U.S. following the Tiananmen Square protests, joined Dell in 2000 and has been involved in Austin's tech scene ever since. She is also a founding board member of the Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce and an executive at Technology Integration Group.
Shortly after making her first commercial real estate investment, which became a boutique bed and breakfast called Andina Luxury Lodging, at 1304 Rio Grande St., the pandemic emerged.
“Everything was canceled overnight," she told Inno last month. "So we were like now what?”
So, after hearing a pitch from Christa Freeland, a serial entrepreneur and founder of ATX KIT, she expanded the bed and breakfast into a coliving brand that caters to startup culture with modern furnishings, rent that includes utilities, internet and more. It's called Founder House at Adina Luxury Lodging.
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McGuire said founders still need to be connected, even while respecting each others' spaces and managing coronavirus safety measures.
“They want like-minded people who can learn from each other and really brainstorm and improve their businesses," she said.
Among Founder House's first tenants are Freeland and Ying's daughter, who is the founder of UCare Mask, a startup making masks with local designs, including one worn by Mayor Steve Adler. More recently, a health tech and mergers and acquisitions executive moved in -- as did Sam E. Ulu, co-founder and CEO of Austin-based photography startup Candidly.com.
"I am constantly looking for ways to maximize my time and energy and joining Founder House was a no-brainer," Ulu said over e-mail. "I get to pay a one-time monthly fee and everything is taken care of: furniture, utilities, internet, everything, allowing me to really focus. I am excited to be part of this."
Freeland sees coliving as a unique opportunity in her life.
“I won’t have the chance to live with Ying and family forever… and living at a boutique hotel," she said. "I’m kind of reveling it it, because maybe I’ll never be able to do this again.”
Founder House offers short-term stays, along with luxury furnishings, local art, high speed internet, parking and community spaces.
Coliving has probably been around forever in one format or another, with dorms being one of the closest reference for many of us. But in the past five years or so the idea has been rebranded, taking several cues from coworking trends -- higher-end amenities, a focus on millennial trends, great internet, coffee and snacks, as well as flexible lease terms. New players on the scene nationally include Haven, Common, Ollie and Quarters.
And the concept has had its ups and downs. On the down, coworking giant WeWork's WeLive branch, offering fully-furnished apartments for stays of one night or longer, is now said to be considering sunsetting the idea -- though the company's broader struggles may also play a role there.
But many of those efforts are in larger office complexes, and may not have the homier vibes you get from a early 1900s building with modern upgrades and below 15th Street downtown. The Founder House space has 13 beds, seven suites, including some that could be shared.
McGuire said that if things go well, she may consider launching new Founder House-type concepts with fellow investors. But time will tell, she said.
In the meantime, Founder House is grinding away just like the startups it's serving.
“There’s no concept like this," Freedland said. "And being the first of its kind, we’re having to learn very quickly."
Editor's note: This story has been updated to show that Founder House was an addition to the bed and breakfast business -- not a pivot.
