The Murrell Building, an Upshur St. spot owned by Paul Ruppert and former home of the now-shuttered Slim’s Diner, has a new venture: a co-working space on its third floor.
The aptly-named Third Floor has held a score of events, including piano recitals and Bloomsday celebrations. It will now cater to residents who work remotely but may be craving an office environment.
Third Floor boasts secure WiFi, office equipment, a coffee maker, a fridge, and a microwave. Also available for use is a conference room and a quiet room for telephone calls or private conversations. Members can pay $225/mo for a reserved desk or $175/mo for a floating desk.
“Our goal is to create an affordable, neighborhood co-working spot—a place for the freelancers in Petworth to work,” Ruppert told DCist via email. “We have an open area with 12 desks and three collaboration chairs.”
“We have a good number of applicants, but are just at the beginning of the process,” he said. “Some interested users include lawyers, graphic designers, and photographers.”
Third Floor will be open 7 a.m.-11 p.m., seven days per week. “We won’t be hosting events at the beginning because we want to make sure that people have access to workspace in the evenings,” Ruppert says.
The Upshur mogul has been using the Third Floor as a flexible event space since 2015, but there wasn’t enough demand—“so we’ve pivoted to introduce co-working in the neighborhood,” he says. “There are co-working spots in Columbia Heights and Takoma, but nothing in Petworth. There is a significant population of people who work at home or in coffee shops. Our space gives them another option.”
The coworking space industry’s growth has seen a large spike in recent years. And if $175/mo for a floating desk raises your eyebrows, consider this: The cheapest, one-person D.C. WeWork monthly membership costs around $350. And Workwell, connected to Georgetown’s Take Care skincare shop, charges $200/mo for a shared office space that includes aromatherapy, desk yoga, and meditation.
“We wanted to be affordable because we want to make sure we are a community space that is open to all,” Ruppert says.
Ruppert is working with Loyalty Books—formerly Upshur St. Books, of which Ruppert was the owner—to reserve “a couple spots for writers.” Loyalty Books will announce the selection process in a few weeks, he says.
Paying for six months of Third Floor membership in one go gets you a 10 percent discount—so it seems Third Floor plans to stick to its new setup for at least half a year.
Third Floor members also receive a 10 percent discount at Petworth Citizen (which he also owns) and Loyalty Books, Ruppert says, adding that his Warehouse Industries team is working to get other businesses on board as well.
Slim’s Diner on the building’s ground floor closed earlier this year. Ruppert told DCist at the time that he cited “several factors… beyond the basic fact that expenses were higher than revenue and we are losing money.” Along with Ruta del Vino and Hank’s Cocktail Bar (which moved to Dupont), the diner was the third business on the once-revered Upshur St. to shutter since November.
In December, Ruppert told DCist that a lack of daytime foot traffic might be hurting the neighborhood. “The thing that marks Petworth and Upshur Street is that our residential density is not as high, nor is our daytime office density as high as it is in lots of other neighborhoods,” he said.
Ruppert, a native Washingtonian, has been involved in a bevy of D.C. bars and restaurants, including Room 11, the Passenger, and the Columbia Room, as well as the now-closed Crane and Turtle.
After the closure of Slims, Ruppert told DCist that he already received some interest in the space.
“I remain bullish on Upshur Street and believe we will find a concept that will work in this spot—especially considering the experience we have gained over the last two-and-a-half years,” he said.
