Caroline Collective

Tuesday, April 8th’s Star Section in the Houston Chronicle splashed a couple of familiar faces on the the cover. In a story about Houston’s alternative working spaces, Caroline Collective was featured, along with Houston Jelly, and quote <3 from Alex Hillman of Philly’s Indy Hall and Tara Hunt of San Francisco’s Citizen Space.

Thus inspired, Rice University graduate students Matthew Wettergreen and Ned Dodington are developing what they say will be the largest co-working space to date. The Caroline Collective is a planned 6,000-square-foot, two-building office and art studio space in the Museum District.

“I see it a lot as a product of our friendship and working relationship. He’s a bioengineer; I’m an architect,” said Dodington. “We started to collaborate on projects and are consistently wowed by the fact through a collaborative effort you can produce interesting results.”

Dodington said, fee-paying members as well as the public ‚Äî it’s seen as a magnet for freelancing or self-employed Web designers, programmers, artists, writers and other “creative types” ‚Äî will gather to work and hang out. (A Chronicle employee is among the investors.)

Wettergreen and Dodington, who are working to raise the $15,000 to $20,000 to renovate the space in time for a June opening, said they hope it becomes a community gathering spot. They plan to charge $300 per month for anytime access to a desk and facilities that will include a lounge, conference room and, if the members demand it, an administrative assistant. Occasional access will be available for $125 per month, or a private office ranging from $450 to $600 monthly. Five out of the seven offices available have already been committed.

Read the entire article here.