Historic Motor Service Building to be redesigned as shared office space

Instantly recognizable by the Alfa Romeo sign hanging off the corner of the red brick garage on St. Joseph Street, the Motor Service Building is a Rapid City landmark.

Yet it has remained vacant for years as no one has been able to figure out what do with the place until now.

Three local businesses McCarthy Properties, MAC Construction and The Numad Group will invest nearly $500,000 over the next few months to transform the interior of the Motor Industrial Building into a shared office facility called The Garage Rapid City.

Modeled after similar places that have thrived in Chicago, New York and Seattle, a shared office is a place for those who only want to rent a work space rather than leasing or buying office space, according to Peter Anderson, president of MAC Construction.

"People work from anywhere today coffee shops, airports, parks and more," Anderson said last week. "Time and again, we hear about their desire to have a true hub to drop in and work from in a similar fashion but on a more regular basis."

Jason Alley, the head of creative developmentat a marketing and communications company called Message, said in today's economy it doesn't matter where a person gets work done. What matters, he said, is that the work gets done.

Alley has a home office and often works out of coffee shops around town, but he has expressed interest in moving into a shared office space environment.

"I think this will make a great satellite base," he said. "It's a place I can pop in when I need to get a few things done then pop back out to meet with clients."

Shared offices have become more popular during the past decade as the number of freelance workers has increased throughout America, said Matt Ehlman, principal of the Numad Group.

The Garage is designed as a place where consultants, architects, small business owners, graphic designers, nonprofit workers and others can share space and work together, he said.

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Historic Motor Service Building to be redesigned as shared office space