Save CubeSpace

We love our cubicles in Portland.  Or rather, we love our CubeSpace, which has cubicles, offices, and meeting rooms for rent by the hour, day, or month as needed.  CubeSpace  is a great place for independent techies and writers (as well as other small businesses) to work without the bother of setting up a traditional office, and to work alongside others instead of at the kitchen table.

CubeSpace is also a benefactor to the community.  They’ve frequently donated meeting space and services for groups in the tech community, have been willing to work with planners of free and low cost events, and have made special offers of free office space for newly laid-off workers (like those from Vidoop).

Today, CubeSpace proprieters Eva Schweiber and David Kominsky disclosed that their business is in trouble.  They were unable to pay the rent for their space (above the US Bank branch at SE 6th and Grand) for a few months, but business has been picking up for them, and they’re ready to work out a payment plan for the past due rent with their landlord, U.S. Bank.  They’re not expecting the rent to be forgiven. They just want a fair chance to pay it back over time.

However, earlier this week, US Bank indicated they weren’t interested in negotiation: “Tuesday we were served with a subpoena from our landlord, US Bank, for court order to effectively evict us from our space for non-payment of rent since March.”

Eva and David don’t want to lose CubeSpace. Like many business owners, they’ve invested everything they have in this business.  We don’t want to lose CubeSpace either.  It’s a central part of our community.

So, efforts are underway to help.  There’s more information at http://savecubespacepdx.com about making a donation or participating in an online auction to benefit CubeSpace.  Mike Rogoway of The Oregonian and Stephanie Stricklen of KGW are helping get the word out in the media.  According to an article by Rogoway, CubeSpace needs about $45,000 to get back on its feet.  Maybe there’s an investor or two out there who would be interested?  In the meantime, SaveCubeSpacePDX.com has raised over $2700 in just a few hours, and David Kominsky told us on KGW’s Live @7 that they’d received an offer of some type (presumably from US Bank).

It’s another great example of the power of the Portland tech community, and the power of coming together to help each other.

UPDATE: CubeSpace has confirmed that they have two offers from US Bank, and they are trying to make a decision on the best way to move forward at this point.  More information on the CubeSpace site and on Eva’s blog.