The Omni Business Center plans to reinvent its virtual office space, which is one piece of the executive office complex in east Wichita.
The Omni Group operates the center, at 111 S. Whittier, near Towne East Square. It has about 30 mostly longterm office tenants spread among three buildings totaling about 50,000 square feet, as well as virtual offices, where people can rent space and services on an as-needed basis.
Buff Farrow, Omni’s general manager, says the center wants to better meet the needs of people who are moving away from traditional office environments but still need the technology and services that come with an office.
“I think it’s a good time for us to innovate,” Farrow says.
Plans are still being formulated, but the idea is to create a 2,500- to 5,000-square-foot open space within the center where businesspeople can collaborate or just hang out. It would be a professional, comfortable environment with coffee service, conference rooms and the latest technology, as well as an on-site IT professional.
The center already has a small virtual office area upstairs with workstations where people can set up laptops, take calls and the like. That space may remain, but Farrow envisions an additional space that he likens to the co-working spaces that have become popular with creative professionals across the country.
“Our tenants would benefit from this phase as well,” Farrow says. “If they wanted to wander in there, that would be just another … area that they could enjoy.”
The on-site IT person wouldn’t necessarily be someone who could fix a PC, “but … a resource for people to (say), ‘Hey, what’s a good app for this? How can I solve this problem? Or how can I use this remotely?’” Other services might include digital security help or hard-drive recovery.
Farrow says Omni could also take the concept into other locations in town, perhaps other offices or apartment complexes looking for innovative ways to serve their tenants.
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