The Mill’s new 7th floor space will make it the largest tenant in the Nemours Building

The Mill’s new seventh floor space in the Nemours Building in downtown Wilmington — an entirely new model for the thriving coworking brand — is just a couple of weeks away from opening. Once the floors and fixtures are installed, walls are painted and touches are finalized, the space will include common kitchen areas, private offices and the like.

This is just the first phase of the seventh floor project. When the new tenants, including Delaware Prosperity Partnership (DPP), move in this November, they will take up about half of the floor. The other half of the space will remain unfilled and unfinished for now, as other tenants are considered.

The nature of the seventh floor model makes it smart to wait: The final layout and renovations can be made with the input of the company contracting the space, says Mill founder Robert Herrera, who designs the spaces, including the original fourth floor space in the Nemours Building and in-development The Mill at Concord Plaza.

Herrera is looking to make these spaces customized to fit the companies that lease the new seventh floor offices, which are notably larger than the offices on the fourth floor — up to 6,000 square feet compared to 900 square feet for a large office in the original space.

For the DPP, for which Herrera is a board member, the concept is a communal space with a large table where the team can meet, surrounded by individual glasses-in offices.

“So in the morning, they come in and meet here at the table every day, then they each go to their own separate offices,” said Herrera, in an interview with Technical.ly. “But they’re always overlooking this central space.”

A row of future offices in what will soon be Delaware Prosperity Partnership’s new space at The Mill. (Photo by Holly Quinn)

Unlike the fourth floor, where everyone shares a main receptionist, seventh floor offices will have their own reception areas, making them fully standalone offices. They still have all of the perks of being a Mill member, though: a staffed welcome area as people exit the elevators, just like on the fourth floor; access to the common areas; conference rooms; craft coffee; beer.

The main difference between the seventh floor and other office spaces in the city is flexibility.

“Most companies, even big ones, don’t know where they’ll be in five years,” said Herrera. “Coworking spaces are more transient. This is for larger and mid-sized companies, but they can sign a contract for two to three years instead of the standard five to 10 years. We take on the cost of setting everything up for them.”

With the new addition, The Mill is now the largest tenant in the Nemours Building, a “point of pride” for Herrera. But it’s not stopping there: He’s in talks about adding another floor in the building — a move that could move The Mill to the next level.

“We’re about a year and a half from having the largest footprint [in the industry] in Greater Philadelphia.”

Check out the renderings of the seventh floor space, provided by The Mill: