MassDevelopment

Cubit Coworks owners receive $75,000 grant to build out more more co-working space in Holyoke


November 9, 2022 : Mass Live, by Jim Kinney


HOLYOKE — Cubit Coworks, the 7,000-square-foot shared office and meeting space developed by brothers Denis and Marco Luzuriaga on Holyoke’s Race Street, has a waiting list.

“Even coming out of the pandemic,” Marco Luzuriaga said. “It’s perfect for a small company or a startup because you can work alone, but still feel like you are coming in to be part of a team.”

That waiting list is why the Luzuriagas are pushing ahead with pandemic-delayed plans to develop a new co-working space at their Armour & Co. building, 130 Race St., just down the block from Cubit at 164 Race St.

Armour, a 120-year-old building that still bears the name of the meat packing company that developed it, will have space for about 40 office-share tenants, Marco Luzuriaga said.

That’ll be in addition to the 100-person capacity at Cubit Coworks: 12 offices and space for about 60 at open desks.

Marco Luzuriaga said he and his brother are working with partners to open a pizza restaurant on the first floor of the Armour building. The co-working space will be upstairs.

Wednesday, MassDevelopment and the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development granted the Luzuriagas $75,000 to pay for furnishings and fit-out costs of the $800,000 Armour project.

“What this does is level the playing field,” Marco Luzuriaga said. “Because of the market here in Holyoke, we can’t charge what they charge in bigger cities like Boston. But the construction costs are the same. This grant makes a project like this economically viable.”

He expects work to begin next year.

Costs for co-working space are $99 a month for access and shared desk space, $195 a month for a dedicated desk and $400 and up for an office.

The Armour building announcement was part of $1.2 million in co-working space grants Wednesday, part of a series of One Stop for Growth announcements in Western Massachusetts. The announcement was at Cubit.

Shyla Ruffer Matthews, vice president of community investment, central region, for MassDevelopment, said the Amour building and Cubit projects will have an impact beyond the Luzuriagas’ properties. She pointed to Gateway City Arts and other new business along the city’s canals.

“You have seen an uptick in pedestrian activity here,” she said. “This area has really sparked to life.”

Also announced Wednesday were:

• New England Farm Workers Council, Holyoke: The council got $15,000 to study the possibility of collaborative work space and a small business incubator at 225 High St., Holyoke.

• Belchertown Community Alliance: Belchertown got $5,000 to study the adaptive reuse of 6 Berkshire Ave., a former dorm on the old Belchertown State School property.

• Lever Inc. of Charlemont: Lever got $15,000 to develop architectural plans for the renovation of the 15,000-square-foot dairy barn at Hall Tavern Farm in Charlemont in the Woodcraft Collaborative. The Woodcraft Collaborative is a shared space for woodcraft businesses.

• The Imaginary Bookshop, Greenfield: The Imaginary Bookshop received $2,000 to improve the Storytellers Writing Center launched in 2021.

• The Gasoline Alley Foundation in Springfield: The foundation will receive $27,500 to further develop facilities for entrepreneurial training and to add fire suppression systems.

In a separate announcement that took place in Russell, the state announced MassWorks small-town infrastructure grants including:

• Russell: $1 million to improve and straighten the curves on General Knox Road.

• Charlemont: $500,000 for bridge improvements.

• Colrain: $1 million to rehab Greenfield Road from Colrain Village Center to the town of Shelburne where it intersects with Route 2.

• Cummington: $882,000 toward replacing a culvert on Stage Road.

• Hawley: $800,000 toward replacing a falling culvert on State Route 8A.