Set up a small office in HK

[LeeAnne]

Our company is going to open an HK office soon so we are looking for an office space. The idea now is to have a work and live co-existing space. We were thinking about a 2 bedroom apartment in a central location and have the living room set up as an office. I'm not sure if there are such arrangement in HK. The company will likely to add more staff in a year time but as for now there will just be one person working there. Thanks for your advice!

[Jonathan Buford]

I did this on Lamma before, but it would be possible wherever you
prefer. One important suggestion would be to be sure that you have
separate rooms for different functions, so that you have a private,
non-work area. If you live and work and spend 90% of your time in the
same space, it is difficult to relax when you are not working.

On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 11:05 AM, LeeAnne <leea...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Our company is going to open an HK office soon so we are looking for an office space. The idea now is to have a work and live co-existing space. We were thinking about a 2 bedroom apartment in a central location and have the living room set up as an office. I'm not sure if there are such arrangement in HK. The company will likely to add more staff in a year time but as for now there will just be one person working there. Thanks for your advice!
>

> --
> Post: hkco...@googlegroups.com
> Unsubscribe: hkcowork+u...@googlegroups.com
> Visit: http://groups.google.com/group/hkcowork?hl=en

[LeeAnne]

Thanks! Yes I share your concern about keeping a balanced work and life style. One thing that I forgot to mention is we are doing an art/education related project. Therefore we'd like the location to be more artistic rather than say in the financial district, but still convenient to get around.

[Jonathan Buford]

Hmm, you might consider an industrial property. They are a good value, but technically it is not legal to live there, although many people do.

Around North Point would be where you could find it HK side.

Also, perhaps Sheung Wan, a flat with rooftop?

[LeeAnne Yu]

I see. Thanks for the info. We actually want to find a place that's also comfortable to live in, the industrial space sounds cool but might not go a good living situation right? Also is Sheung Wan more expensive say than Kow Loon?

[Jonathan Buford]

You might be surprised about the industrial space, it can be pretty
good quality of environment. I would consider living in the Makilab,
it is not any worse than the surrounding apartments, but there is much
more room and light.

Yes, I would be looking at Kowloon side as well. One good match might
be a villa type of house in Kowloon Tong.

Cheers,

Jon

[LeeAnne Yu]

Oh? Ok so I will definitley check out the industrial spaces, since I'm the one who's going to be living there. I'm a girl and I need to make sure it is safe first haha.
Thanks for all the advice. I will look into those.

Leeanne.

[Ben Liong]

A friend of mine has an office in the Kwai Chung / Kwai Fong area in one of the industrial buildings.  I see some ladies living in one of those apartment when visiting him in his office. 

The common area isn't at all nice / glamorous, but it's good bang for the buck, and Kwai Chung area (where I used to work) feels pretty safe to me. 

I however find myself trying hard not to work where I sleep though, so I often have to resort to Coworking spaces and Café so I don't get into trouble of the whole not having a life thing. :(  It sucks but I pretty much need a separate place to work from where I call home. 

Welcome (back? First Time to?) to Hong Kong. 

--Ben. 

[LeeAnne Yu]

Yeah the company is not going to pay for my separate living as it seems. So finding a balance is really important. It's not my first time to go to HK but will be the first time to work there for sure.

What do you do in HK?

LeeAnne

[Ben Liong]

I'm sure you know Jon is a kickass entrepreneur coming out with a real hardware product soon.  I work full time freelance writing iOS app now and trying (slowly and a little unsuccessfully) getting my own product off the ground.  My previous field is in CCTV / Public Announcement / Voting / Conferencing Systems project management.

But now I mostly write iOS (and begrudgingly android) apps. 

Having an Art/Education based project may mean that it's less technical and more interacting with the outside world, so our work-life-balance problem may not apply to you as much.  I wouldn't worry about it too much, just follow Jon's advice and get something with separate rooms one for work one for non-work. 

--Ben.

[Ben]

Have done that at the first few months of Oursky and that's actually a
cool thing agree with Jon on work/live part.

Speaking of around art... maybe you want to consider these less well
known area as well?

- To Kwa Wan, popular area of drama / art (e.g. the Cattle Depot
Artist Village) but no MTR station here, and most buildings there are
old;

- Shek Kip Mei (or any other area in West Kowloon), Jockey Club
Creative Arts Centre is right there, close to the Creative School
which host tons of culture events. Unfortunately the West Kowloon
Cultural District is not completing in near future.

Ben
--
Ben Cheng | Product Manager | M +852 8174-6083 | @chpapa

Make click-through mockup and collect design feedback easier with
FileSquare - filesq.com

[LeeAnne Yu]

Thanks for the advice. I'm gonna look into these industrial spaces and see if we can find something suitable.

[LeeAnne Yu]

Thanks! yeah as a matter of fact the Boss wants to find the space in a cool/industrial place and so there are more possibilities as to what they can do with the space.

[LeeAnne Yu]

Hi Jon, what exactly is Makilab? I'm kind of interested, is it in the HK side?

LeeAnne

[Jonathan Buford]

It is our space for Makible R&D and production. We are located in Kwai
Hing. Around 3,000 sq ft of space, pretty cheap rent, about 1/2-1/3 of
what you would get for a similar size space in a b grade building HK
side.

[LeeAnne Yu]

Cool. How long does it take to to travel from this place to say HK island? And are you renting out this entire 3000 sq ft space right now? and what is the cost of rent?

[Jonathan Buford]

Depends on where, but around 30-45 minutes to most places.

It is under 30k a month.

[LeeAnne Yu]

I see. Could you send me some pictures? Does this place require reconstruction?

[Jonathan Buford]

We got lucky. You can find various photos on the blog at MakiBox.com.

Most places will require renovation, ours happened to be fitted out by the owner right before moving in.

[Christina Chu]

consider  http://thehive.com.hk/

On Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 5:28 PM, derekgaw <dere...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi HKCowork,

Are there any recommendations on spaces that are amenable to short term co-working? I'm looking for coworking options for one week starting next week. All I really need is a power outlet and internet access.

Thanks,
Derek

--
www.derekgaw.com

--
Post: hkco...@googlegroups.com
Unsubscribe: hkcowork+u...@googlegroups.com
Visit: http://groups.google.com/group/hkcowork?hl=en

--

Christina Chu

"You have to believe in yourself" - Sun Tzu

[Alba HK]

Second that, I worked out of The Hive for a few months. It's a good spot and fairly convenient location.

[Jonathan Buford]

Depends on your needs. We have space setup for hotdesk use in Sheung Wan, should be $500 HKD for a full week access. Ping Josiah about the details. We will formally relaunch BootHK sometime soon.

If you are a developer, perhaps try Co-coon. The Hive has a nice atmosphere, and you could also check out Fill in the Blank, which is also in Wan Chai.

Cheers,

Jon