New hub in Midtown welcomes community collaboration

A new space has opened in Midtown that is opening its arms to more than just customers.

The Studio is a community-focused hub that allows people to rent it for meetings, pop-up shops, markets, networking events and more.

Tara Faris, the general manager of Midtown, says this will provide some flexibility to people who need the space.

“We don’t really have any other space that’s that unique that can accommodate a three- or four-day booking. Most of them are usually a month or something like that. So it’s nice to have that versatile short-term space for communities to utilize,” said Faris, who noted the mall is always a place to gather and reconnect.

She added the space can also allow some businesses a trial run to see if being in a mall is a long-term solution.

“You give new entrepreneurs an opportunity to test a product or an idea or some sort of concept,” she said. “And they like the opportunities to do the pop-ups to see, ‘Is this actually something consumers want?’ ”

She added that gives store operators the chance to test the market before committing.

The Studio will also allow for more than one vendor to use the space at one time for markets and community gatherings. The space can be converted between tenants within an hour.

Bookings are available and a pop-up market will fill the space this weekend.