Whether a hefty commute or a remote job has you logging hours from the North Fork, working from home may look different in the coming months. Jonathan Baker, a Greenport-based architect, is bringing a coworking space to the village.
What is still a work-in-progress will be known as Village Works, attached to the building housing Flavor Fork, upon completion.
Baker worked primarily out of New York City offices and coworking spaces for years. When he and his wife Sarah Mastracco — the founder of Flavor Fork — moved their family to Greenport full-time in 2020, he started working from home, making the occasional trip west.
He and Mastracco started looking for spaces for her to expand her online food business and for him to work out of with his one local employee.
“We were getting excited about getting out of the house,” says Baker.
When they found the building, after some rearranging and renovations, they decided that Flavor Fork would be in the back and Baker would work in front.
Since the office area was too large for just two employees, he decided to create Village Works. “It just seems like it would be a nice community asset,” says Baker.
Baker started work on his portion of the building on July 16. The space boasts multiple storefront windows and a conference area that he plans to partition off. He hopes to bring in a bar top with stools, a lounge-like area, more desks and resources like printers and monitors.
He plans to rent desk and conference spaces on a day-to-day or long-term basis to local businesses or individuals yearning for that in-person office feel.
Being that the coworking space shares some walls with Flavor Fork, Baker plans to arrange his area so that people coming into work can walk right through to the grab-and-go business for lunch, snacks and drinks inspired by some of the local cafes/work spots he has stopped into.
“When I go to Aldo’s or NoFo RoCo’s [North Fork Roasting Company] conference area upstairs, you find people just posted up [working],” says Baker. “It’s nice that they can get coffee or get a snack or get a lunch.”
As for what’s left to do before he opens the doors: setting pricing, purchasing and moving in more furniture, upgrading internet and determining the need for a phone system or video display.
Baker doesn’t have a strict timeline in mind, but says the space will be serving the Greenport and surrounding communities soon.
“If it’s a good environment there can be so many benefits,” says Baker of his hopes for the new business.
