Creating an Easton business community based on more than just a place to work
Updated Feb 23, 2020; Posted Feb 23, 2020

Reeds403 Co Work Lounge

By Tony Rhodin | For lehighvalleylive.com
Mark Calafatello had a place in need of a reason.

In June 2016, he bought a six-story building at 403 Northampton St. in Easton.

Soon enough the Williams Township-based developer learned the top four stories weren’t usable space.

That left him two floors and a million ideas.

Back in September, he was weighing finding someone who wanted to put a business on the street level and live upstairs.


But he’s not an “all eggs in one basket” type of guy -- what happens if something happens with the sole tenant? -- so the concept evolved.

Again.

But come March 2, the date of the grand opening of Reeds403 Co Work Lounge -- named after a long-ago store called Reeds that once occupied the space and still has its name in the entranceway -- Calafatello and his wife/business partner Maryanne Russell will have their own community.

Yes, for $100 a month, a person who passes the background check will get a virtual key on their cellphone and will have a place to work and more in the city’s Downtown.

But they won’t be alone, even if their coworkers are in completely different fields.

Calafatello is curious about collaboration and community.

And he’s opening a laboratory to learn what he doesn’t know about creating a thriving space where lots of kinds of work can be done.

Calafatello and Russell traveled to similar spaces throughout New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania and brought to Easton what they say are the best of those worlds.


But that doesn’t mean they won’t adapt to their members’ needs.

They expect to spend a fair amount of time in the uniquely designed mini-spaces as “the community establishes itself,” and then step away to allow it to flourish on its own, he said.

In a microcosm, it’s like the moment during a recent soft opening when a chef from Rome, two Hearst editors and a guy from a Palmer Township paint store were sitting on the couch in front of the shimmering electric fireplace at the far end of the first floor, he said. Diverse, but potentially one.

How it gets there and if all needs are met are the challenges.

Life is quite technical these days as we are each tied, heads down, to our various devices, but there are no TVs on the first floor or in the large cooking and dining space toward the front of the second. While there will be a secure high-speed network, Calafatello said he hopes the experience is more analog as people on the comfy couches and chairs get to know one another via words spoke rather than texted.


He’s not setting limits on the experience.

“It’s 24/7,” he said. So if a member wants to do dinner and a show with friends, they can meet in the Northampton Street spaces before setting out to soak in the neighborhood’s renowned entertainment, Calafatello said.

Not that it will be a free-for-all. Members of the community are expected to behave. And even when the owners aren’t there, they have technology that will know who is a member and who isn’t in the building.

The contract -- “crafted by a team of lawyers” -- will protect from intellectual digital theft in the shared space in another effort to develop a safe atmosphere. And there are nondisclosure components, meaning, as in Las Vegas, “what happens here stays here,” he said.

One of the benefits of charging $100 -- other full-time co-work spaces can cost three times as much -- means it’s not a big financial blow to remove a community member if they’re acting in a way they shouldn’t, Calafatello said.

The developers have been planning for this opportunity for much of their careers before Easton -- his in sales and marketing and hers in corporate and other high-end photography, both in New York City. They saw the change about 10 years ago as the chains were broken by available high-speed wireless and people began to create from anywhere.


He calls it “the new idea of how you work.”

And yes, people can put in their eight hours in their apartments or in a coffee shop, as long as the Wifi is good enough.

But there is a social component that goes missing.

Many of the new Eastonians are coming from other places and there are standard office spaces that are available, as well, Calafatello said.

But if that doesn’t suit all their needs, “this is more a community concept,” he added.

For a pipe fitter or an artist, “this becomes a wonderful space,” he said. “They can explore community and business.”

One new member has a beautiful home office, but wants to get out one or two days a week, Calafatello said.

The lounge aims to meet those needs, he said.

There may be rails in place that limit some activity, “but we want the rails to be as wide as possible,” he said.

The way in is clear cut.

“My belief is to make it simple,” Calafatello said, adding the single pricing option is only expanded if the member wants to schedule one of the conference rooms for a larger activity. “I’m not impressed with complicated.”


The parameters are set and it’s just a matter of “how do you police it,” he said.

And while there will be “zero tolerance for nonsense,” the “sanctuary” they designed and implemented will, in the big picture, have to run itself, he said.

They’ve got a half-million dollars invested -- including the $190,000 it cost to buy the place.

And they’re not really sure what to expect once their community begins to breathe.

Sometimes outside groups will be able to join in, for example if a restaurant wants to try out new dishes and schedules an off-site event in the dining area, Calafatello said.

“I’m hoping to be the nexus,” he said about “the collective.”

Want a moment of privacy from the community? In addition to the conference rooms, the store front has swivel chairs that create a “phone room” for a call that requires an alone, if on display, moment.

Even if there are 100 members, Calafatello doesn’t expect more than 30 at any one point -- in fact he’d be “very pleased” to have that number, even though “it’s going to feel empty.”


But it’s a laboratory that he’s creating, to study what works and what doesn’t.

“We want to see what people want that we’re not offering,” he said. And that may lead to more buildings and additional and potentially shared spaces.

So the current first-floor setup -- where changing elevation of work spaces from raised bar-like tables to plush couches provides options -- is the key to a design that offers solo seating as well grouped comfort in seemingly open but visually segmented spaces. No two tables, chairs or couches look the same but the eclectic nature blends both in the small pairings as well as the overall picture.

But it all could change in a month or two.

“The point is it’s an environment,” he said. “... We are exploring different ideas.”

The pricing was to make the community “more inclusive,” although members could still see it as their private space, Calafatello said.

For the outwardly social couple, the new venture will be a “very limited opportunity to dovetail into the community,” he said. “This opportunity allows you to meet a vast spectrum of people. It’s something we wanted to provide. ... It’s an expansion of the conversation. This fits into what we’re up to."


And while the shopping-passionate couple have spent time once again looking for store samples and thrift treasures to blend with Russell’s award-winning photos and other gems from their art collection, Calafatello is also looking forward to getting his wife “plugged in” as a member of the community as she handles the business’ paperwork somewhere other than their living room.

The place will accessible day and night, but Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. knows what having more workers in the daylight Downtown means to his city.

Reeds403 Co Work Lounge “is important because it adds to the daytime economy of our city,” he wrote in an email. “We have a thriving nighttime economy but this will bring workers to our downtown.”

At and after the grand opening at 5:30 p.m. March 2, Calafatello will be offering one month free to new members, he said. A website reeds403.com is being created to handle membership signups, but it has yet to be completed.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.