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<\/p>\nA Houston-based entrepreneur says he\u00a0can save landlords time and money by eliminating the need to build out office space for a tenant, only to have it rendered useless when they leave. He just needs to get\u00a0his solution into more of their hands.<\/p>\n
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\n Bisnow\/Maddy McCarty\n <\/p>\n
\n ClarityCastle modular office pods at Greentown Labs in Houston\n <\/p>\n
ClarityCastle<\/a>\u00a0is a brand of modular<\/a> office pods created by Seth Eslami<\/a>, a commercial property management executive who said he\u2019s seen the same problem repeatedly throughout his 20 years in the industry.<\/p>\n \u201cIt kills me when a tenant moves out, and I have to go back and spend another $30, $40 per foot to do a new build-out,\u201d Eslami said in an interview with Bisnow.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like we just spent $200K in here, and we have to go pay somebody to destroy this and throw it away and build it all over again. What a waste.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n ClarityCastle\u2019s solution is modular pods, ranging in size from 3-foot-by-6-foot private phone booths to soundproof pods measuring eight\u00a0and a half feet on each side that can serve as private offices or conference rooms.<\/p>\n The pods\u2019 modular nature means they can be broken down into pieces for transportation then installed quickly, typically in less than two hours. They are held in place magnetically, Eslami said.<\/p>\n While this isn\u2019t the first modular office pod concept, Eslami said he has kept his operations extremely lean to offer the product at an affordable price for noninstitutional landlords and tenants. The \u201centry-level\u201d pods start at $3K and go up to $6K, while premium pods start at $12K. Leasing is also an option.\u00a0<\/p>\n Eslami started the company in 2023 but struggled to get it off the ground without inventory or proof of concept, he said. But last month, ClarityCastle installed the last of 10 pods in the office of Greentown Labs<\/a>, a climate tech innovation hub at 4200 San Jacinto St. in Midtown Houston<\/a>\u2019s Ion District.\u00a0<\/p>\n Greentown was able to quickly lease out all the pods to other tenants. The pods helped transform a former supermarket storage room into a flex office space, said Lawson Gow<\/a>, head of Houston for Greentown Labs.\u00a0<\/p>\n ClarityCastle was an alternative option to building out the former supermarket with traditional office space, which would have taken at least nine months, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and blocked out most of the natural light, said Gow, who\u00a0is also the founder\u00a0of\u00a0The Cannon<\/a>, a Houston-based coworking<\/a> provider with seven locations throughout the metro.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[ClarityCastle] gets these up and built in like a day,\u201d Gow said. \u201cIt’s just a no-brainer, and there’s a lot of macro trends that are working in ClarityCastle’s favor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Those trends include the rising cost of construction, especially for high-end office space, and the increased interest in adaptive reuse<\/a> of existing buildings, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n ClarityCastle\u2019s pods help Greentown generate rental revenue it otherwise wouldn\u2019t have. But Greentown is a tenant itself. Eslami said he\u2019s seen more success with tenants so far, but he\u2019s hoping to capture more interest from landlords.<\/p>\n Some landlords may be hesitant to invest in a product that could make it easier for tenants to pack up and leave without making a long-term commitment to an office space.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the nature of the coworking and shared, private office space. You\u2019re just going to see lower retention, unfortunately, relative to what you\u2019d see in a traditional office space,\u201d said Monte Lippert, senior vice president of The Wharf<\/a>, a mixed-use development in Washington, D.C., which leases two floors of office space to a coworking operator.<\/p>\n While not looking to expand its coworking space, flex office fills a need at The Wharf, especially for growing startups. They may grow out of the coworking space, but Lippert sees that as a logical transition.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully, we’re able to meet the moment, but the companies that do well grow and potentially take a smaller suite and lease here at The Wharf,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a nice addition, having flex office and traditional office.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Wharf considered another brand\u2019s modular office pods for its coworking space several years ago, as they would help meet the need for demand for office space for one to six people, he said. But they ultimately determined the price was too high and it would take too long to get a return on its investment, he said, recalling\u00a0that the prices were \u201cwell into the five figures.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n Bisnow\/Maddy McCarty\n <\/p>\n \n ClarityCastle modular office pods at Greentown Labs in Houston\n <\/p>\n That\u2019s where Eslami said landlords should see the benefit of ClarityCastle. They\u2019re priced affordably, can be financed, and help landlords avoid the costs that come with a traditional tenant build-out, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn an office, when a tenant changes and they don\u2019t want it, it ends up in the trash,\u201d Eslami said. \u201cI can get this [pod] five years from now and fully remodel it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The pods are customizable with exterior PVC wrap, and users can customize their lighting and climate to their preferences. The pods\u2019 lights, air conditioning and wrap can all be replaced for them to look new, Eslami said.\u00a0<\/p>\n And if Greentown Houston moves, it can take its pods with it, Director Kelsey Kearns said. Staff at Greentown\u2019s Boston location saw pictures of the pods in Houston and requested 15 for its location, Gow said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n