Common Desk is most often referred to as one of the earliest coworking brands to open in Texas. Founder and CEO Nick Clark launched the company out of Deep Ellum back in 2012, and has since expanded to serve thousands in Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, and (soon-to-open) North Carolina. But what’s not talked about as often is Common Desk’s workday brand portfolio—that actually includes wellness, technology, and a now-growing coffee outlet.
In 2017, Common Desk bought and rebranded Old East Dallas’ Method Coffee with the intent to “strip down the pretentiousness of coffee.” It wanted to bring java to the masses, giving everyone the highest quality cup, no matter their prior experience level with coffee. Fiction Coffee quickly became known for its barista training, specialty coffee and third-wave coffee standards, and welcoming environment.
Now, Common Desk is building on that niche feel; that “Southern charm for the coffee palate.” Fiction Coffee has expanded from its flagship location at Ross and Hall to add outposts at One Victory Park and, recently announced, at Four Oaks Place in Uptown Houston.
Fiction Coffee says it has a “big heart for local,” and aims to be active in the neighborhoods it’s in. [Photo: Theo Bowie]
In case you haven’t been yet, Fiction Coffee’s all-black exterior is hard to miss on Hall Street (and it juxtaposes nicely with a nearby mural). [Image: Google Maps]
Located at 1400 Post Oak Blvd., Fiction Coffee will now be included as an amenity at Four Oaks Place, which is one of the largest and most prestigious office campuses in the Houston area. The Fiction Coffee branch will take up about 700 square feet of space inside of the 2.3 million-square-foot office campus.
The project’s owners, Allianz and Nuveen, interviewed multiple coffee operators in a thorough search before choosing Fiction, according to Common Desk. But even more big news is that it’s Houston’s first Fiction Coffee location that’s not connected with a Common Desk space, as the Houston Chronicle notes. Nearby, Common Desk will open a location at 3040 Post Oak. Blvd. and another at 2339 Canal St. this year.
“Upon visiting the Dallas location of Fiction Coffee in 2019, we immediately realized the lack of true craft coffee options in Uptown Houston,” Transwestern’s Tyler Garrett said in a statement. “We were in search of an operator that could deliver the highest quality product which would align well with the high end design space we had planned for the building lobby.”
The Fiction Coffee location at Ross and Hall is small, yet cozy and inviting. Guests can often be seen meeting, working, or simply enjoying a specialty brew. [Photo: Theo Bowie]
[Photo: Theo Bowie]
As Four Oaks Place’s coffee operator, Fiction will brew traditional craft coffee and serve up its Fictional Menu items, which includes concoctions like the juniper berry-infused ‘Staghorn Latte.’ Common Desk said the brand is set to arrive in early March, and once open, will be one of the only craft coffee destinations in the area.
Coinciding with the news, Common Desk announced it will be implementing its mobile experience app in Four Oaks Place. That will allow office tenants to place Fiction Coffee orders, reserve conference rooms, and RSVP to events.
Launched last year, the Ellum app—inspired by Common Desk’s original headquarters in Deep Ellum, before it moved home base to Factory Six03 in the West End last September—uses robust back-end management technology to power a variety of hospitality features. At any Common Desk location or building spec suite, Ellum Tech “IoT buttons” are placed around the space. After pressing the IoT button, a request can be placed and sent directly to the building’s onsite staff, with immediate feedback returned.
“People are used to having a smartphone app for everything, especially for food and beverage options,” Dawson Williams, head of real estate at Common Desk, said in a statement. “The team at Four Oaks understands how important this is, and we’re excited to join them in bringing amenities straight to their tenant’s fingertips by way of our technology and Fiction Coffee offerings.”
[Photo: Theo Bowie]
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R E A D N E X T
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