Historic Capital Square building lands new tenants, including co-working space and bakery
Jim WeikerThe historic Hayden building near Broad and High streets has landed some new tenants despite Downtown's struggling office and retail market.
The 100,000-square-foot building, at 20 E. Broad St., has partnered with the hybrid-working company IWG to open a 20,000-square-foot "Spaces" co-working space. Spaces offers more than 60 offices ranging from 100 square feet to 600 square feet, said Michael Tomko, president of The Tomko Company, which bought the building in 2017.
Tenants of Spaces have access to a conference room, coffee bar and the building's amenities, including a rooftop deck that overlooks the Statehouse.
In addition to Spaces, Tomko has leased three ground-floor retail spaces he manages, including the former Tim Horton's location on the northeast corner of Broad and High streets.
Black Kahawa Coffee Roastery is opening its first brick-and-mortar location in the Tim Horton's space, with plans to feature coffee roasting and a patio on the site. Three Bites Bakery, now on Mt. Vernon Avenue, will lease space a few doors down at 12 E. Broad St., along with the tea service Little Cat Boba, which operates a site in the East Market building.
Black Kahawa and Three Bites, both of which are expected to open in June, benefitted from a city program called Ground Floor Growth, which subsidizes the cost of emerging businesses that open Downtown.
Tomko said he has also leased ground-floor space at 4 E. Broad St. to a tenant he cannot identify yet.
Tomko said Hayden's office space is 85% leased, including the Spaces lease. Tomko said he is encouraged by recent interest in the building and the core of Downtown, despite difficult years since the Covid pandemic. While large new leases remain rare Downtown, interest in smaller spaces, up to 5,000 square feet, is strong, he said.
"I would say the overall health of Downtown is good and is trending upwards," he said. "It’s not great, and not where we all want it to be, but we've seen a consistent upward trajectory; '21 and '22 were terrible and '23 was better, and '24 is doing really, really well so far."
Tomko said he believes buildings that are maintained and improved will fair well as Downtown recovers, while those that aren't, such as the KeyBank building, will continue to struggle. While he is happy to see vacant Downtown office space converted into residences, he believes such conversions are unrealistic for most buildings.
"Refitting an old office tower can be a promising way to bring residential online, but those projects are lengthy, complicated, and can be as expensive as new builds," he said. "I would expect some to be demolished."
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