New coworking and events venue opens in the Fan

Ours is a coworking and events venue that recently opened in the Fan. (Photos courtesy of Ours)

A New York-based business brand has expanded its reach to Richmond with a new coworking concept in the Fan.

Ours, a coworking and events space, opened last month at 2309 W. Main St. Behind the venue is Sam Taylor, who established Ours to introduce a new spot for local creatives to work and socialize.

“I think of it as a coworking space meets a community center,” Taylor said.

Ours occupies a 2,400-square-foot building that was formerly a Pilates studio near the corner of Addison and Main streets. The second floor of Ours has 16 desks for coworking, and downstairs there’s a lounge and kitchen. It also has a meeting room.

Taylor said Ours is planning to have a membership of 250 to 300 people, depending on which membership tiers prove most popular. Ours currently has more than a dozen members.

The tiered program offers members varying numbers of days of access to the space, starting with a $45 membership that provides access two days a month to the communal areas. It costs $165 for unlimited monthly access to common areas. A membership with a dedicated coworking desk starts at $295 a month.

In addition to coworking, Ours emphasizes community programming with events such as film screenings, Pilates sessions and cooking classes.

“It’s a space that’s open to anything and everything people are dreaming about hosting,” Taylor said.

Sam Taylor founded Ours to create a community for creatives to work and learn.

Ours is affiliated with Index, a coworking and events venue in New York City. The four Index affiliates worldwide are referred to as “Nodes.” The community spaces, which broadly are designed to provide an educational and social outlet for members, include a culinary-focused location in Japan and a Dutch cooperative.

Taylor said that while Index will provide startup grant funding to get the affiliates operational, Ours and the other affiliates are independent business ventures. Index requires that venues under its banner be run by a local individual in a given city and allow members of other Nodes complimentary access to their facilities.

Ours received $130,000 in startup funding to launch, a spokesperson said. Acme Architecture designed the space.

Taylor became aware of Index through his day job as a creative strategist for Garden3d, a New York-based company that established Index. He sought to bring the concept to Richmond to cater to like-minded individuals who are freelancers or remote workers.

“Watching these other spaces across the world open up, I became interested in bringing something like this to Richmond,” Taylor said. “I imagine this as a platform for creatives and artists but also people who are curious.”

The Ours space was formerly occupied by Niche Pilates, which has moved to 1435 W. Main St. In other Fan news, Main Projects recently opened an art gallery in the neighborhood. Jewish restaurant Susie’s opened late last year on Cary Street.

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