Why Sound Union Got Deliberate About Coworking — An Honest Look
A founder’s perspective on turning an underused asset into the Peninsula’s most interesting place to work
When we opened Sound Union at 2625 Broadway in Redwood City, coworking wasn’t the plan. The plan was music. Professional rehearsal studios, weekly hosted sessions, a community of serious musicians who wanted a club-level experience — that was the vision. We spent our money and energy on the Roland kits and the Fender amps, on curating the right mix of members, on making sure every evening session offered something worth showing up for.
Coworking was the result of keeping some of the previous tenants' worktables because frankly, it would have cost us much more to replace them with lounge seating. A few open tables. Nice chairs. Fast Wi-Fi. Why not? because musicians need that too.
But here’s what happened: the members started showing up at 10am.
They brought laptops. They spread out across the tables. They took calls in the quiet corners. They told us, unprompted, that they were getting more done here than at home — and definitely more than at any WeWork they’d ever tried.
They weren’t asking for coworking. They were already doing it. We just hadn’t named it yet.
The Space Problem Every Business Owner Understands
Let me be direct about something that matters if you run a physical-space business: every square foot and every operating hour that isn’t generating value is an expense you’re carrying without return.
Sound Union is 10,000 square feet. When we opened, the core revenue engine — studio bookings and memberships — ran strongest in the evenings and on weekends. Mornings and weekday afternoons? Quieter. The building was open. The lights were on. The kitchen was stocked. The Wi-Fi was humming. And a lot of that capacity sat idle.
That’s not just a missed opportunity. Over time, it’s a structural inefficiency. Our members deserved more hours of value. Our investors deserved more activity per square foot. And the space itself — this beautiful, warm, thoughtfully designed creative ecosystem — deserved to be alive all day, not just after 5pm.
So we started paying attention to what was already happening organically.
The Signal We Almost Missed
As our music membership grew past 100, then 150, we noticed a pattern that had nothing to do with rehearsal rooms.
Members were arriving early. They’d book a studio at 4pm but show up at 11am with a laptop. They’d settle into the open seating, order lunch from one of the restaurants on the block, and work for four or five hours before their session even started.
When we asked them why, the answers were remarkably consistent:
“My home office is fine, but I feel isolated by noon.”
“I tried WeWork in San Mateo. It’s a desk. That’s it. There’s no energy.”
“I get more done here in three hours than I do at home all day.”
“The vibe is different. I can’t explain it. But I actually look forward to coming in.”
These weren’t people asking for a coworking product. They were telling us, with their behavior, that we’d accidentally built one — and that it was solving a problem the Peninsula’s existing coworking options weren’t touching.
The creative professionals, the entrepreneurs, the remote knowledge workers who also happen to play music — they were already here. They just didn’t have a membership tier that recognized how they actually used the space.
The Deliberate Decision
We had a choice: keep coworking as an unadvertised perk that existing members figured out on their own, or build it into a real offering — one that could stand on its own next to any coworking space in Redwood City or the broader Peninsula.
The deliberate decision came down to three things:
1. It’s good business. Every hour the space is open and every square foot of floor plan should serve members and generate returns. A coworking tier that fills the morning-to-afternoon window turns a cost center into a revenue line — without compromising the evening music experience. The two uses don’t compete. They complement.
2. It’s what members actually want. We didn’t launch coworking because a competitor analysis told us to. We launched it because our own members were already using the space that way. The 94% retention rate we’re proud of comes from listening to how people actually live in the space — not from guessing what they might pay for.
3. Nobody else on the Peninsula is doing this. Every coworking option between San Mateo and Redwood City — WeWork, Werqwise, Fitzpatrick, Broadway@Main — is selling a desk with amenities. Fast Wi-Fi. Espresso. A phone booth. They’re clean, functional, and completely interchangeable.
Sound Union is selling a creative ecosystem that happens to have exceptional workspace in it. The people at the next table might be your next bandmates. The room 50 feet from your laptop is a professional recording studio. Your workday can end with a live session instead of a commute. No other coworking space within 20 miles can say any of that — and most of them can’t even claim a reason for you to be there past 5pm.
What “Deliberate Coworking” Actually Means Here
Being deliberate meant we had to answer a real question: if we’re going to call this coworking, how do we make it genuinely better than the alternatives — not just different?
Here’s what we landed on.
Open seating that feels like a creative space, not a call center. Our work tables sit inside a 3,000 sq. ft. community area with warm wood, natural light, and instruments visible in the background. It’s designed for focus — high-bandwidth Wi-Fi, quiet zones, a kitchen that’s actually stocked — but it doesn’t feel corporate. It feels like somewhere.
Meeting rooms that don’t cost extra. We watched what happens at WeWork when a member holds two team meetings a month — the credits run out, the overage kicks in at $8–$10 per seat per hour, and suddenly the “affordable” membership is $400–$500 a month before they’ve booked a private office. At Sound Union, the collaboration lounge, podcast room, and small studio are all included on an as-available basis. No meter. No surprise invoice.
Day passes that let people try before they commit. $50 gets you a full day — not a “lounge only” restricted pass, not a teaser rate that expires. Show up at 10am, work as long as you want, and see if the space fits. We’d rather have someone try it once and know it’s right for them than sign up on a vague promise.
An actual community, not a room full of strangers. The 94% annual retention number — which we verify and track — is the most honest signal we have. People don’t stay at a desk for 94% retention. They stay in a community.
A Note on the Day Rate
You’ll notice we’re at $50/day. Fitzpatrick down the street is $30. Broadway@Main is $30. We’re not trying to win a race to the bottom. The day pass at Sound Union includes the space, the kitchen, beverages, snacks, the Wi-Fi, the rooms on an as-available basis, and — honestly — an atmosphere that costs more to create and maintain than a strip-mall office suite. We think $50 is fair for what you get. If all you need is a chair and an outlet, the cheaper options exist and we’re comfortable saying so.
Who This Is For
If you’re a remote worker in Redwood City, San Carlos, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, or anywhere on the Peninsula who’s tired of the kitchen table and doesn’t want to drive to a sterile office park in San Mateo — Sound Union’s coworking exists because people exactly like you were already finding their way here.
If you’re a podcaster or content creator who needs a desk most days and a recording room occasionally, this is the only space within reach that gives you both under one membership.
If you run a company within a 10-minute drive and you’re looking for a well-being benefit that actually changes how your team feels about coming to work — 2625 Broadway is worth a visit.
And if you’re just curious whether a coworking space can actually feel like somewhere you want to be — come in on a Thursday around 5pm. The energy shift when the workday transitions into the evening session will tell you more than any blog post can.
The Bottom Line
We didn’t build Sound Union to be a coworking space. But we’re deliberate about being one now — because our members showed us the demand, because the economics of an active space make sense, and because the Peninsula deserves a place to work that isn’t just another office with better coffee.
If that sounds like what you’ve been looking for: schedule a tour or grab a day pass and come see for yourself.
Sound Union is a creative ecosystem and coworking space at 2625 Broadway St, Redwood City, CA 94063. Day passes $50. Memberships from $350/month. No hidden fees.