Inside MakeOffices’ newest K Street location

Raymond Rahbar gives fast-paced, abrupt tours of his spaces, and apparently, he’s the best at it. Must be that CEO clout.
The long hallways in MakeOffices’ newest location at 15th and K feel even longer for their emptiness as we cruise around the space. Dec. 5 marked the “very soft” opening of the location, but the team doesn’t expect to see it bustling any time soon.
See, trying to fill a space in the middle of the holiday season is a challenge, regardless of any “home court advantage” MakeOffices may have in D.C., where its headquartered, versus its other markets like Chicago and Philadelphia. There’s also the issue of the recent election — many individuals who were expecting to need K Street office space now may no longer need it.
But that particular challenge plays the other way, too, and MakeOffices K Street is hoping to capitalize on all the newbies moving in to the District come inauguration day. “If you’re part of the business of D.C., this is actually pretty great,” Rahbar, a self-described political junkie, reflects as we look out one of the locations’ giant windows toward the busy people below.

The new location is split between two floors — you enter upstairs to a reception area and can make your way down a steel staircase to an expansive common area and kitchen. The building is window-heavy, so almost all of the private offices boast panoramic views of 15th Street, K Street or McPherson Square. That leaves call rooms, conference rooms and up-for-grabs coworking space for the central areas. There are also some spaces reserved for MakeOffices’ signature perks, like a “relaxation room” and, new to this location, an audio recording studio (it has an “on air” light and everything, Rahbar pointed out).

The office is 35,000 square feet, but it feels bigger when it’s empty. Presumably the MakeOffices team hopes this phase won’t last too long.
It’s certainly a bold move to open the space right now, and it is easy to imagine how showing and filling the offices sets up a new kind of challenge. K Street isn’t a traditional coworking local, but WeWork and cove both have spaces in the corridor. The WeWork K Street location is one of the primary locations participating in the company’s recent Mission Possible program in D.C. through which the coworking giant lends free office space to early-stage entrepreneurs, at least partially because it has the extra space required. Let’s see what 2017 brings.