General Provision Work Club

When it comes to co-working spaces in Fort Lauderdale the options are still relatively limited. When it comes to a chill, modern, laid back environment where you'd want to collaborate & work on new ideas, it doesn't get much better than General Provision.

Located in the emerging FAT Village (Flagler Arts & Technology Village) right outside of Downtown Fort Lauderdale, General Provision has a certain vibe to it that appeals to me (and my generation). The work spaces might not be your traditional desks, but still serve as a place where you could bang out any complex project in peace. The wood feel throughout reminds you of a space not often found in Florida, which helps you escape from the outside FTL world once you step inside, and instantly turns on the creative side of my brain and gets the juices flowing.

If you're looking for an in between space, a place to get away & get work done, or a place to collaborate with like minded individuals, I'd recommend checking out General Provision & FAT Village. If you've never been before, The FAT Village Art Walk on the last Saturday of every month is a great opportunity to do just that! It's a lot smaller than the Wynwood Art Walk, and has a different feel/vibe to it that I enjoy as a change from the norm while supporting my local community & emerging scene here.

I came here for the Broward Arts Means Business event, which was great.

Really enjoyed the space it has a cool. vibe.
Food and wine were set up on their bar area for us to enjoy.

I ended up sitting upstairs because the downstairs area was taken. Upstairs they have individual office spaces .

This place is really cool. It's a coworking space with a great vibe. I went to a Hatch Creatives event here. The space was spacious, trendy, and perfect for what we were there for. The little coffee shop is really cute and the baristas are really nice!

If your hosting an event where you need to do some type of presentation or just a speaking event, this place is great for that.

I haven't taken advantage of the coworking space yet but I plan to!

This place isn't like the rest. Staff is amazing, coffee is actually legit, and the space is one of a kind.

I love my co-working space here at General Provisions. I've been a member here for 2 weeks and I can't say enough good things about them. The environment is relaxed, modern and laid back. I love the use of slack to request coffee, set meetings in the board room and even change the music playlist.

Their member activities make it easy to get to know the other members and connect on both a work level and a personal level.

I love the partnership with Wells coffee and other local bakers to keep the community ties strong. I have only worked out of the FAT Village location so far but I can't wait to try the downtown location.

I loveeeeee GP. The staff really care about the community and they put their whole heart into it. Joining GP is kind of like unlocking the doors to a secret community of people who are founders, innovators and community leaders. They have tons of trainings, opportunities to connect and their monthly subscription box is an awesome concept.

Unfortunately, a negative review arrives. I was in the market for a co-worker location and figured I'd give GP Downtown a go after checking out a couple of Co-working locations. I met with Patricia Kneski down at the GP downtown location and was given the three floor tour. I was interested in the associate package which is about a $350/$400 a month membership; however, no slots were left and decided to go with the commute.

We sat down and signed up for the commute and figure I will upgrade to Resident or Principle when a spot opens in the future. She asked me a couple questions, set me up with Kisi (for building access) and swiped my credit card and I became a member. No problem. Right?

What I found slightly unprofessional is when I got home LinkedIn notified me that another LinkedIn Member had viewed my page. It was Patricia. Ummm ok? No link request or nothing. Though its public profile I found it strange to be "spot" checked. If that is the case just ask me for my Articles, Business registration, and or my EIN number? I mean if you want my LinkedIn, just ask!

So a month or two goes by and like normal (in business causal) I access the facility using Kisi and go to my usual spot. Took out my laptop, my business docs, and some material I needed to go over that day. At the same table their was a white gentleman on his laptop working quietly and the table next to us their were two other white gentlemen brain storming and business strategizing. 25 minutes later the two men packed up and left and 10 minutes later the guy next to me introduced himself, shakes my hand, and tells me, "have a great day" and leaves.

Now literally a minute after the guy leaves suddenly some lady who I believe is Michelle Loccisano and Patricia are towering over me at the desk after all the patrons leave.

Lady: "Excuse, I was walking back and forth and umm... Are you with someone or are you a guess here?"

Im looking up at her dumbfounded

Me the BLACK guy: "Ummm Yes I'm a guess here.."

Lady: "Oh I was going back and forth and...... I never seen you here and thought you were here with someone else" Negative! you grabbed Patricia and planned to confront me as soon as the others Caucasian men left so you didn't completely look ignoramus when you could have easily asked 50 other questions that would have confirmed that I am a member here!

Im thinking in my head.. Ok, what if I was a client of a member what exactly is going to happen next? Mind you some people have 24hr access to the facility and there are TWO locations. You cannot possible remember all the members!

Patricia: "Oh, I think I've seen you here before"

Really Patricia im WEARING the same thing I was wearing and sitting in the EXACT same location where you took my credit card!

Than Michelle pretty much walks away after that! She didn't say who she was, asked if I was ok with everything, nothing! Just walks away.

Patricia: "is the access ok, is 8am to 8pm fine" At this point of time im not even listening

Me: "yeah its fine"

So many things wrong happened here. I literally had to confirm this story with 5 other people of other backgrounds who felt this was pretty racist. Im mean really 2019...

I wrote an email to Patricia to please terminate my membership. No response. I waited another week and emailed her again. She responded with "would you like 24hr access or to downgrade to the community membership?" I told her that its not about access nor money and that our last incident was unprofessional and outright embarrassing and I wish to terminate my membership.

-Bing!- you have 1 view on LinkedIn

Its Patricia and received NO respond after that...

Now you get an email from a client and they said that you were unprofessional and embarrassed them and not following up just simply confirms you knew EXACTLY what happened.

I love having an office partner with General Provision. We hold our weekly Advisory Board Meetings in their conference room and it is so nice to have the privacy to dive into topics important to our company. The offices have an awesome vibe to them. I love meeting people for appointments and always get compliments on the location. They have awesome perks for it's members all month from activities to massage days. ... And... I can't say enough about the professionalism and kindness with the entire staff. They make you feel at home and are incredibly accommodating.

Having just returned from General Provision, I couldn't wait to jump on my computer and tell everyone about it. The purpose of my visit was for a private function. Until this event, quite frankly I have never heard of this place before.

I arrived early (I'm an early bird, can't help it) before the majority of guests and was greeted by the owner, Tim. Well let me tell you, he was so gracious and inviting, his energy filled the room with warmth. There are those out there that have this special gift of exuding this peaceful energy, but unfortunately they are far and few between. Tim definitely has something special. Shortly after his greeting he had to leave, so I didn't have the opportunity to speak with him further. DARN!

Hip and trendy, the interiors did not disappoint. Even though the modern decor including the exposed air ducts were covered in black, the entire place felt warm and inviting. A masterful design indeed.

Located in downtown Fort Lauderdale's trendy FAT Village, General Provision is an industrial style open concept shared office space that was custom designed and constructed by the owner. A warehouse style environment, it is longer in depth than width. There is a coffee bar on the right when you enter along with some plush casual seating. On the left wall begins large open tables. Midway down there are two privacy rooms that would hold one person, one with a fold down table, that have purple sponge rubber 3D points on all three walls. (See pic) Actually I really haven't the foggiest idea what these are for, other than a new age type of private work room. It was actually very cool.

Towards the back left aligned an open cubical concept with desks for individual office spaces. The right had two work tables with a very large, quality drawing table along with foot lockers for guest use. Finally, the rear encompassed a decent size conference room that was very relaxed and comfortable in appearance. (See pics) The entire overall layout was creative and very well thought out.

This informal office environment appears to be a wonderful place to catch up on work. Whether it be long term rentals for the small business you are trying to get off the ground, students or designers collaborating on projects, a casual business meeting with out-of-towners, or just taking a day for some privacy to get some work completed, I would definitely recommend visiting this place to see what it has to offer.

Unfortunately I can't review for actually working at this facility, so I needed to take away 1 star.

http://generalprovision.com

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Awesome Coworking space in FTL. Very close to downtown and right next to some hip artists, photography studios and easily accessible to the beach.

Highly recommend you stop by this location if you need a meeting location or place to rent a desk at. Very friendly people who are also agencies and app developers.