Green Pines Creative Opens Coworking Space in Long Beach

Green Pines Creative has opened 10,100 square feet of coworking offices in Downtown Long Beach.

The Long Beach-based for-profit benefit company opened the coworking space at 129 West 5th Street, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.

The two-story building, built in 1942, has been redesigned as a communal work space for artists, freelancers and entrepreneurs.

Coworking spaces have gained ground in Long Beach and across the nation as freelancers and entrepreneurs seek smaller, come-as-you-please work places, instead of renting large and often-expensive offices.

Green Pines Creative Coworking and Events aims to draw artists, musicians and other content creators. It’s also the home of Green Pines Media, a unit of Green Pines that helps former foster youth make money on their art and music.

“I want people to walk through these doors and feel like they can get actual work and creative things done,” Deena Saunders-Green, founder and CEO of Green Pines Creative, told the Press-Telegram, “in an environment that is our home.”

The coworking and events space has private offices, semi-private offices, dedicated desks and workstations that cost $30 to $50 per day. Large meeting and event space reservations range from $50 to $70 an hour.

The vibe differs from staid office environments. Work by local artists such as LaJohn Miller and ArTrell, or former foster youth such as Jameah Palmer, cover the walls. Some rooms are decked in black, blue, purple or yellow, with hall murals that say “The sky is NOT the limit.”

The GPC coworking offices also include stuff to help people create: musical instruments, packing supplies, sewing machines and more.

Its adult members also have access to music and art therapy, yoga classes and mentorship programs.

Saunders-Green, a Long Beach native, has a master’s degree in social work and spent much of her career working with current and former foster youth. She has served as a foster parent and has been a mentor for more than 12 years. Her work in helping former foster youth ultimately drove her to look for different ways to help them succeed in life.