If there’s one thing Berkeley residents know, it’s how to work together. This East Bay Area city has a rich history of community engagement and collective action, spanning multiple eras from the countercultural movement of the sixties to the campus organizing at UC Berkeley today. When it comes to getting things done, Berkeley knows that things work better when all hands are on deck. It’s no surprise, then, that the trend of coworking spaces has taken off in this coastal California town.
Beyond just offering desks and offices, coworking spaces serve as networking centers and community gathering places for professionals in the tech world and beyond. Budding entrepreneurs might wind up chatting with potential collaborators at the coffee machines, and startup teams may find themselves challenging venture capitalist investors to games of shuffleboard between meetings. Many minds have to work together to get a winning idea off the ground, so if you want to start building your team, one of these eight Berkeley coworking spaces might be just the place to start looking.
Co-working Spaces in Berkeley to Know
- Berkeley Skydeck
- Sandbox Suites
- Regus
- Workstation West Berkeley
- The Office Berkeley
- NextSpace Coworking
- CoWorking With Wisdom
- Intelligent Office
Location: Downtown Berkeley
What they offer: Built to serve the tech community of UC Berkeley, Berkeley SkyDeck is both an incubator and a coworking space for UC affiliated startups and entrepreneurs. They help startups move through the seed stage and beyond by connecting them with a network of potential investors and collaborators, providing services such as product development and advising from experts.
Location: Downtown Berkeley
What they offer: Located conveniently near the Downtown BART, Sandbox Suites offers monthly memberships that grant 24/7 access to high speed internet, free coffee, mail handling, and both private and communal workspaces. Understanding the difficulty of developing a professional profile when working from home, Sandbox Suites provides members a dedicated workspace and connects them with professional community support. The company has additional offices throughout the Bay Area in San Francisco, Palo Alto and elsewhere.
Location: Downtown Berkeley
What they offer: Serving UC Berkeley and the greater Berkeley community, Regus offers members access to office spaces and meeting rooms, as well as on-demand access to virtual offices and a business lounge at affordable monthly prices. Regus' central location allows members to reach their offices conveniently from public transit and engage with the university community.
Location: Southwest Berkeley
What they offer: From freelancers to small enterprises, Workstation West Berkeley offers a number of options for any kind of work. Members can rent hot seats, dedicated desks or a private office, and gain the ability to book conference rooms and host business events. Additionally, the space offers amenities that include an outdoor patio, a stocked kitchen and private phone booths for business calls.
Location: Central Berkeley
What they offer: The Office Berkeley prides itself on being founded not by billionaire corporations, but by local Bay Area business owners and professionals. As a result, they hope to connect members to a community of Berkeley-based venture capitalists and tech entrepreneurs. In addition to networking opportunities, The Office offers members access to both private and communal work spaces, free WiFi, catered lunches and free coffee.
Location: Downtown Berkeley
What they offer: NextSpace Coworking provides coworking amenities to members in a variety of industries, with open-plan offices and on-demand access to virtual meeting places and conference rooms. In addition to providing working space for tech professionals, NextSpace Coworking also serves a community of freelancers, attorneys, nonprofits and others, hoping to connect people in disparate industries to find collective solutions.
Location: Downtown Berkeley
What they offer: CoWorking With Wisdom hopes to help freelancers and professionals manage work-related stress by combining traditional coworking space amenities with wellness guidance and mindfulness classes. Their space includes both office spaces and classrooms where members can split time between work and self care to develop a better work/life balance. CoWorking With Wisdom also offers membership access to conference rooms and spaces for members to host professional events.
Location: Walnut Creek
What they offer: Located in the East Bay, Intelligent Office offers tech professionals access to virtual offices and desk space in a convenient location. Members at Intelligent Office can access their office spaces 24/7, and are able to enjoy amenities such as virtual offices, conference rooms, free coffee and a breakfast bar. Founded in 1995, this coworking company has additional locations around the Bay Area and beyond, with over 60 office spaces across the United States.
