Uniland Introduces HANSA Coworking to the Buffalo Business Community

The Regions Elevated Office Experience To Open Summer 2020

BUFFALO, NY (October 11, 2019) – Uniland Development Company, the leading provider of office and industrial commercial real estate, introduces HANSA, an innovative shared office & coworking space in downtown Buffalo that will provide a flexible and on-demand workspace solution for the local business community. HANSA (pronounced hähn-sä) is Latin for guild, meaning to unite people for a common purpose. HANSA will offer fully-furnished workspaces from traditional coworking to private offices, suites and meeting rooms with generous amenities for professionals who want An Elevated Office Experience. A Uniland-owned warehouse at 505 Ellicott Street is undergoing a complete rehabilitation for the project, which will also include a privately-operated cafe and two apartments. The building is being outfitted with new skylights, windows, a focal-point staircase leading to a second story, and an outdoor patio. A new brick facade and exterior lighting will align the building with its neighbors and visitors inside will be energized by the chic industrial interior design and the fusion of modern office and residential furniture and decor. HANSA is expected to open in Spring of 2020.

HANSA’s two-level serviced office space will offer:

• Coworking: open, unreserved desks and seats
• Dedicated Desks: a reserved space within our open environment
• Private offices for one or two people
• Team Rooms for groups of three to six people
• Private suites for 8 to 21 people, including offices and a meeting room
• Meeting rooms for up to 45 attendees
• Special event spaces for up to 230 guests

HANSA co-founder and Uniland Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Initiatives, Carl Montante Jr, has been committed to bringing this shared space rental service to Buffalo for the last few years. Mr. Montante toured similar centers around the country and Toronto, both at larger and peer cities, and saw the strength of creating a local brand rather than franchising with a national one. The HANSA brand was born from a collaborative process between Uniland and The Martin Group. HANSA’s modular logo represents the flexibility that this facility provides its members.

Although it’s a natural extension of Uniland’s office space business, we felt it was important to make it a separate business because of the emphasis on offering a hospitality-like service to our members, Montante said. “Our goal at HANSA is to be a hands-on business partner for our members rather than merely a landlord.”

To execute this new business model, Montante turned to Uniland Senior Real Estate Development Manager Kellena Kane, a 12-year employee specializing in creating large-impact projects such as The Delaware North Building, the Bryant Park redevelopment plan for the former Children’s Hospital, and the Ellicott-Tupper innovation campus on which HANSA is located.

As HANSA president and co-founder, Kane has been managing the project and meeting with members of the business community to provide exciting details of what HANSA will offer starting next year. “We are open to meeting with individuals, organizations, and influential business representatives to hear their workspace and meeting room needs, and provide a solution at HANSA to fit their budgets as they plan for 2020,” said Kane.
While Buffalo has coworking spaces for start-ups and private offices for established professionals, the region does not have an all-in-one turnkey offering with everything in between, plus small and large meeting rooms. Therefore, businesses must go through the lengthy process of searching for traditional office space, negotiating leases, buying furniture and equipment, and coordinating the move. In larger cities where this type of work environment is prevalent, both small and large businesses have seen the following benefits of using this type of space:

• Lower occupancy costs
• Move-in and start working in a matter of days versus months
• Flexible terms that allow members to grow or decrease space needs
• A collaborative work environment where networking, creativity, and productivity thrive

HANSA will offer day and multi-day passes and monthly and annual memberships. Many pricing options will be available. Most memberships include amenities such as:

• high-speed and reliable internet service
• 24/7 secure access
• on-site support team
• technology-equipped training and meeting rooms
• podcast room
• exclusive business seminars and networking happy hours
• open concept kitchen with caf? tables
• fresh food delivery
• on-site wellness activities
• mother’s room
• meditation room
• lockable storage
• outdoor patio
• indoor bike storage
• access to private phone booths
• changing rooms with showers
• free coffee and snacks
• local craft beer on tap at special events