Less than a year after opening its first-ever Austin work club, Switchyards plans to open a second location at the end of March, and the company is already seeking locations for a third.
This time, the “neighborhood work club” will open at 1408 E. 13th St. inside the former Owen’s Garage space on Monday, March 30. At 6,700 sqft, the new Switchyards location — a 90-year-old former auto repair shop — will be nearly twice the size of its Hyde Park counterpart.
If you haven’t yet heard of Switchyards’ unique brand of work spaces, they’re not designed to be the typical coworking offices. The clubs are meant to be in neighborhoods, taking over a second-generation space, and become a third place for individual workers.
“We take inspiration from places that we have worked and like to spend time — from hotel lobbies to college libraries to great coffee shops — and we smash all of that together into one space,” CEO and founder Michael Tavani told ATXtoday.
Some quick facts about Switchyards clubs:
- Members have 24/7 access to the space.
- Membership grants access to all work clubs across the country.
- Members get free locally roasted coffee, thanks to partnerships with local shops.
- Phone booths, meeting rooms, and deep work spaces are available at no extra cost.
- Memberships are $129/month.
While there isn’t a preview of the new club just yet, Tavani said the historical space is “the best one yet,” as they always strive for the newest club to top the one that came before it.
“We take the bones of the existing spaces that we move into,” Tavani said. “We love stuff where work used to be done there, whether it was work on motorcycles or cars or schools.”
Austin’s flagship location holds the record for fastest membership sell-out (two minutes and 43 seconds), though every Switchyards membership drop has sold out the same day. Switchyards will drop 350 new memberships for the east Austin club at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 26.
Since memberships sell out so quickly, Tavani said the best way to secure one is to sign up for Switchyards’ text alerts and join the waitlist.
By the way, if you aren’t able to secure a membership this time around, don’t fret. Tavani said Switchyards is already working on a third Austin location.
