CoCo is making its second attempt to expand outside the Twin Cities with an office in the Windy City.
 
The organization, which provides startups and entrepreneurs with collaborative and shared working spaces, acquired another coworking office—Enerspace Chicago—in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood.
 
It will be the company’s only space outside the Twin Cities and provide a link between to another metro area where many MSP conduct business. A Fargo office opened in 2014, but closed only 10 months later when it failed to attract enough members. The company was trying to build coworking demand in the city, but changed tactics to focus on expansion in markets where demand already existed. The opening of a Northeast Minneapolis space and the Chicago acquisition follow this model.
 
“We are extremely pleased to be bringing Enerspace Chicago into the CoCo Family,” CEO Kyle Coolbroth said in a statement. “We see Chicago as a vital hub of entrepreneurship, and this acquisition allows us to create greater opportunities for the small business and entrepreneurial communities in these cities.”
 
CoCo currently has 1,000 current members in three Minneapolis spaces—the downtown flagship and satellite offices in Uptown and Northeast—and its original location in St. Paul’s Lowertown neighborhood.
 
Enerspace will maintain its current headquarters and location in Palo Alto, California. Founder Jamie Russo will continue to run the organization and will serve an advisory role for CoCo’s new Chicago office.

The acquisition is mirror image of an opposite trend: Chicago-based coworking spaces heading to the Twin Cities. In the past year, several organizations like Industrious and Assemble have opened up shop in downtown Minneapolis.