Dwolla, the payments network provider from the Silicon Prairie, is opening an office in the Big Apple. And not just any office — it’s the space pictured above, “32,000 sunny square feet” on posh Fifth Avenue, just a block from trendy Union Square.
The space, in a landmark building designed by Stanford White of the legendary firm McKim, Mead & White, is being leased by the RR Donnelley-backed Work–Bench startup accelerator, within which Dwolla is a new member. Work–Bench’s lease on the space runs seven years.
It won’t be all Dwolla’s office space, however. The company will be sharing it with several other “enterprise startups” in the accelerator, according to PandoDaily. Aside from Dwolla, the space will host LayerVault, makers of software for designers; Pymetrics, which makes recruiting software that uses Big Data; tax software firm Moneao; iLumen, business data analysis; and mobile advertising firm Adcade.
The startups do not receive any investment, but they also don’t give up any equity. They pay a per-desk price for use of the space.
Work–Bench describes the space this way:
Our workspace was designed to promote a healthy worklife and thoughtful workstyle. We are tailoring for productivity, from an in-house concierge service that will take care of all the small problems to a state-of-the-art enterprise network. Members feel comfortable and at home, they enjoy inviting friends and colleagues, hosting business partners and events, or sticking around into the night.
Count us jealous — except for that working into the night part.