Although WeWork and Regus might be the most notable players in the New York Metropolitan Area’s coworking industry, plenty of smaller coworking businesses have popped up amid the rise of shared office spaces. New Jersey has been no exception to this trend, with venues like Kearny Point, Eagle Rock Cowork, and Indiegrove opening in the state’s cities and suburbs. Now, a new coworking facility could open up in an Essex County downtown.
A shared office facility has been in the works over the last few months for the space above South Orange’s Ashley Marketplace & Cafe. PTB Investments, LLC, which is registered out of the Montclair offices of The Pinnacle Companies, filed an application with the South Orange Planning Board in April that calls for turning the two floors above the supermarket into a 15,515-square-foot coworking business known as Work Mozaic.
Renderings and site plans of the development from The Dietz Partnership indicate that Work Mozaic is expected to include an intelligent locker system, multiple conference rooms, community spaces, phone booths, training centers, dozens of offices, and several designated coworking spaces. In addition, the second floor could contain a Ricoh print center and a “new water wall feature” near the atrium. New signage is expected to be installed on the facade of the building as well.
Municipal records identify Marc Weinberg, Pinnacle’s Chief Operating Officer, as the project’s applicant. In a May memorandum to the South Orange Planning Board concerning Weinberg’s application, the South Orange Design Review Board described the building as a “key visual anchor to our downtown,” adding that they “very much appreciate the thoughtful effort to refresh so many elements of this facade.”
Located at 1 South Orange Avenue next to South Orange’s main train station, the space previously was home to the 1 South Restaurant, which both opened its doors and permanently closed in 2018. For several years, Above Restaurant and Bar operated inside, while Eden Gourmet, the predecessor to Ashley Marketplace, briefly used part of the second floor as a cafe before Above opened.
Should the plans continue to advance, Work Mozaic would be the third coworking space in South Orange after Work and Play on Prospect Street and My Branch Office’s SOMA One location in the South Orange Plaza building.
