From Ugly Office to Family Paradise

The coworking operators who sold Common Desk to WeWork are converting an office building into a “boutique” country club exclusive to families with young children.

Editor’s Note: The world needs more innovative concepts that can make use of surplus office space–particularly dated, midcentury buildings that nobody wants.

One of my favorite models comes from Radical Play Concept Partners, an emerging developer and operator based in Dallas, Texas. They convert vacant office buildings into kid-friendly country clubs. I invited co-founders Dawson Williams and Nick Clark to write about what they’re doing and their first project. —BH

Parents with children under 12 years old are an underserved audience in the physical world. There are, of course, family-friendly restaurants and kid-oriented entertainment venues (for example, KidStrong, Shredder, Camp or KidZania are scaling up), but very few places offer parents one place to take the family for 3+ hours—one full nap window—where everyone is happy and has a great time.

For affluent families, country clubs are one such place. Generally, these clubs offer subsidized childcare, sports programs, programmed activities, secure facilities for children to roam freely, fitness options, and a private community of like-minded people.

In today’s letter, we’ll cover:

• The state of country clubs and family-oriented membership models;

• The office conversion thesis;

• The story of Radical Play’s first office conversion deal.