Merging coworking and real estate

Blue Bean and Re/Max Concepts collaboration opening in Johnston

By Emily Barske

Blue Bean offers Ankeny what some only expect to see in a metro area’s downtown core: a combination of a coffee shop, coworking space and rentable meeting rooms. 

“[As inspiration] we said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to bring a little bit of LA to Ankeny?” said Blue Bean co-founder Carlos Rojas. He and his wife, Ximena, opened Blue Bean in 2019 and say their secret sauce is “coffee, community and productivity.”

Now the business is opening a second location in another suburb – but with its own unique twist. The Blue Bean expected to open this spring in the Johnston Town Center development will be combined with an office for real estate company Re/Max Concepts.

As you enter you’ll see the coffee bar with individual drinks or flights, as well as food available. But among the whiteboard walls, collaboration areas, conference rooms and individual workspaces (called MeZones), patrons will see the Re/Max Concepts offices.

Coffee, coworking and – real estate? 

The business partners say it’s the first coffee shop and real estate office collaboration in the Midwest. 

“The real estate community already spends a lot of time in coffee shops,” said Shane Torres of Re/Max Concepts. Having a space that both clients and everyday patrons alike could frequent, as well as being able to hold private meetings in their offices, just made sense.  

“I’m not trying to be a barista … and there’s someone who’s already doing it at a high level,” Torres said. So he approached Blue Bean about the idea in 2021, and as they continued to have conversations the now business partners realized their organizations’ values aligned well, with both organizations focusing on community collaboration. As a perk, even their color palettes and logo designs fit well together, they said. 

“We are partnering with a very similar upbeat, innovative brand,” Carlos Rojas said. “That the partnership is a reality shows the flexibility that Re/Max had. Because from a small business standpoint, flexibility is something that we don’t have a struggle with. But when you have these partnerships with more established organizations, sometimes brands are very rigid. This never happened with Re/Max. We have the freedom to be as creative and innovative as possible.” 

When starting in Ankeny, finding and designing the space was the hardest part for the Rojases. So partnering with someone like Torres with expertise in real estate and construction has been beneficial in Johnston. Even as roadblocks or delays have come up, partnering together has made this easy, Ximena Rojas said.

The rise of coworking 

Coworking was happening before the pandemic, but COVID accelerated its popularity. Eighty percent of respondents in an October 2022 Slack survey of knowledge workers said they want flexibility in where they work.

“I think that the concept of working from different places – and obviously we’re trying to make Blue Bean one of those places – is becoming more and more of a norm,” Carlos Rojas said. “People now have a better concept of saying … I’m going to work from a coffee shop, I’m going to work from home, I want to work from Blue Bean.”

Why ‘Blue Bean’?

Where did the name “Blue Bean” come from? 

Here’s what the Rojases say about the name: “We knew that coffee needed to be part of it, but how? How could we create a brand that represented coffee culture with an innovative edge? So, after some intense brainstorming sessions, we got inspired by the story of “Jack and the Beanstalk” and an idea popped up: What would it look like if there was such a thing as a “magical” coffee bean? One with the power to unleash innovation magic, supercharged productivity and a trendy vibe? It would look like a vibrant ‘Blue Bean.’”

Other Johnston developments

The Blue Bean and Re/Max Concepts building, located at 6205 Merle Hay Road, is part of commercial space being developed by the Hansen Co. alongside the new Johnston Town Center. It will be among other retailers like arcade-pub Backpocket Pin & Pixel and a wine bar called the Cork. A four-story GrandStay Hotel is also under construction, and is expected to be completed later this year.

The Johnston Town Center includes a new city hall, a recreation area that doubles as an ice rink and splash pad, outdoor event space, and more. 

The proposed Bombers entertainment district is also just over a mile away. Developer Allen Stoye said construction is set to begin in April. The district is expected to include 36 climate-controlled hitting bays overlooking a 270-yard driving range; more than 100 state-of-the-art arcade games; 16 bowling lanes; areas for ax-throwing, billiards and other games; two Popstroke-style putting courses; pickleball; and restaurants, bars, conference and event center space, and a live music venue.