Cordish's Spark in Power Plant Live! is Filling up Fast in Advance of January Opening

Baltimore Business Journal

Spark, the office and co-working space under development by the Cordish Cos., is about half full and expected to officially open in January.

The 20,000-square-foot space at Power Plant Live includes 28 offices, about 50 co-working desks and three private suites. Cordish has committed tenants for about half the private offices, a third of the co-working desks and one of the three suites.

“We’re very excited by the progress and we think it reaffirms what we’ve been experiencing to date, which is that there’s a growing need for appropriate space to accommodate emerging companies,” said Alex Fine, a development director for Cordish.

Cordish is designing Spark with young companies and entrepreneurs in mind.

Flexible lease terms and rent prices are intended to appeal to startups that have outgrown their nest at a local incubator but are too young — and growing to quickly — to lock into multi-year leases. Tenants can rent offices and co-working desks by the month; Spark also offers day co-working passes, annual suite memberships and mailbox only memberships.

Cordish is working with interior designer The Verve Partnership, based elsewhere in Cordish’s offices at Power Plant Live, to create a modern space that young companies will want to call home.

In addition to office basics like conference rooms and a nice kitchen, Spark will include lots of fun features, such as a lounge, games, and a bar area with gourmet coffee and craft beer, intended to provide the networking opportunity and sense of community young workers crave.

Here are some of the companies coming into Spark:

·              Affiliate Window, performance marketing services firm

·              AJT Media, digital media and software development

·              Avhana Health, electronic medical record utilization

·              Black Label, worker-owned creative and development cooperative

·              CDG Architecture, full-service general practice architectural design

·              Deep Run Security, cyber security services

·              DB Technology Associates, mobile app development and branding

·              DreamIt Health Baltimore, a health IT startup accelerator program

·              Early Charm Ventures, business management and funding for early stage biotech startups

·              eTags, private vehicle registration

·              Fearless Solutions, software development

·              Four V Systems, data analytics

·              Full Society, socially responsible restaurant payment app

·              Nephila Advisors, investment manager specializing in reinsurance risk

·              PaRaBal, enterprise mobile security

·              STAQ, advertising technology platforms

·              Startup Maryland, regional initiative of the Startup America Partnership

·              Tailored Living, home improvement

·              Tissue Analytics, mobile platform for wound tracking and assessment

·              UBT Technologies, defense, government and IT modernization

·              Vantage Mark Media, digital marketing

·              Velaro, live chat software for business websites