September 15, 2015
Nutshell’s CEO, Founder on Building Startups in Ann Arbor
MPA is thrilled about designing COOLHOUSE, an office for Nutshell in Ann Arbor.
“We know if we connect these places, we have the chance to build a solid network,” Malcoun said. “It’s actually a terrible idea to tie up a bunch of our capital in a real estate deal, but we’re doing it because we have to—there’s no billionaire wanting to do cool things in Ann Arbor—and you can’t build great companies without a great community to support them.”
Ufer, for one, is a fan of Coolhouse and all it might do to enrich Ann Arbor’s startup ecosystem. “I think it’s a wonderful project,” he said. “We’re big supporters of their efforts, even though we’re not involved financially. It’s a very neat thing to buy much-needed space that young companies can afford, and where they can scale.”
“It’s very high-end, inspired tech office space,” Malcoun said. “It’s all-inclusive; we’re not renting it out by the square foot. Plus, our tenants will be mixed up with different companies with varying levels of success.”