Federal coworking: Tacoma

Columbia Banking Center

1301 A St. | Tacoma, WA 98402

The Tacoma federal workplace is a leased facility inside the Columbia Banking Center. The building has nine floors and GSA occupies approximately half of the building, consisting of partial space on the second, third, fifth, and sixth floors, and the entire fourth floor. During your coworking experience, you will have access to an open and shared work space in a collaborative setting on the second and fifth floors.

The workspace

Outfitted with workstations, collaborative areas, and meeting rooms.
Docking stations allow for connectivity to external keyboards, monitors, and mouse devices.
Coworking space utilizes Wi-Fi for internet connectivity. Ensure your agency allows for connection to outside/ guest Wi-Fi networks and you are familiar with any VPN requirements your agency may have.
Contact your agency’s IT support service ahead of time to learn more about connectivity in a shared environment.

Facility amenities

Supply stations (near printers) are equipped with pens, pencils, scissors, tape, staplers and extra paper.
Sanitizing wipes are located at the supply stations and along the walls of the building core. Please be sure to clean and clear the workstation at the end of your workday.
The 5th and 2nd floors each have one break area. These locations contain microwaves, commercial Keurigs, and refrigerators with ice machines.
Mini-Mart Self-Service Food Court - There is an onsite self service Avenue C vending machine on the 5th floor with snacks, drinks and food. You need a debit or credit card to purchase items. Our ice machine and water filler is located next to the Avenue C vending machines.

Coworking best practices

Open workspace means shared workspace.
Please be mindful of those around you. Make sure to limit the volume of your voice and sensitive phone calls by taking these in an enclosed meeting space. Take your lunch away from the pantry area to be courteous to those sensitive to smell.

Shared workspace also means being mindful of basic security protocol.
It’s a general best practice to lock or secure your government devices when leaving the workstation, even for a short time.

Workstations are to be cleared daily.
Any items left behind are collected at the end of the day and can be picked up in Room 415. Please wipe down the workstation at the end of the day.

The essentials

Items to bring with you

HSPD-12 PIV Card
Laptop
Mobile phone
Headphones
Power cord(s) and chargers
USB thumb drive (Required for printing)
Any other accessories you need to work comfortably in a shared workspace

Do not forget to check in by scanning the QR code upon arrival.
This gives us valuable information on how the coworking space is being used.
Wi-Fi via GSA Guest Network
The WiFi password is available via scanned QR code, which is posted at the entrance and throughout the coworking space.
Printing
All files you need to print must be saved to a USB drive and plugged into the printer device.
- Print to the Hub’s multi-function unit by saving your data to a USB drive and inserting the drive into the printer. Follow instructions on the printer menu.
- To scan documents to your USB drive, insert the USB drive into the multi-function unit and follow the instructions on the menu.
- You can send an outgoing fax using the multi-function unit, but you cannot receive any fax.
Personal storage
Lockers can be set with a 4-digit numeric code of your choosing on a daily basis.
- To lock: Select 4 digits, press enter and lock.
- To unlock: Use the same 4 digits, enter, and open.
  Be sure to leave the locker and drawer unlocked when vacating at the end of your workday.

Our other spaces

Conference rooms

Conference room reservations: Meeting rooms requiring reservations are available by coordinating your needs ahead of time. Please work with your GSA R10 Federal coworking Program Manager, Jennifer Mayo (jennifer.mayo@gsa.gov), to ensure you have the resources you need for your work day.

First come first serve rooms:

Focus Rooms (capacity 2)
Juniper Huddle (capacity 4)
Maple Huddle (capacity 4)

Requires reservation:

Kootenai River (capacity 10)
Borah Peak (capacity 16)
Diamond Peak (capacity 32)
Mt. Hood (capacity 24)
Mt. Bachelor (capacity 24)
Hood/Bachelor combined (capacity 48)

Privacy rooms

Nursing room

The nursing room is located on the 6th floor. The lactation room has two convenient spaces that afford privacy. This space is first come first served and can be accessed by going to Workplace Services.

Shower room

The shower room is located on the 6th floor. It is a single shower space. This space is first come first served and can be accessed using your HSPD-12 (PIV card).

Getting here

Public transportation

Metro/Sounder bus and Tacoma streetcar stops are within 1/4 mile.

Parking

Parking is available:

Next to the building (cash/check only),
Across the street from the building. Flowbird, REEF Mobile, or @ParkMobile are accepted.
Street parking which is 2 hour parking.
Metered parking. There is no Federal Employee parking available at this location.

Accessing the building

First-time coworking participants, enter the front doors and take the elevator to the sixth floor to program your HSPD-12 (PIV) card to access the coworking floors. If your HSPD-12 is already programmed, proceed to your coworking space.

All non-federal visitors must go through visitor screening in the lobby and be escorted to the space by a federal employee.

In order to access this space, you will need your government HSPD-12 card visible at all times. All Federal Coworking workers will need to check in with OAS Workplace Services on the sixth floor to program their HSPD-12 card for access.

The Federal Coworking Office Space is accessible on the 2nd floor (Rm 222) and the 5th floor (Rm 514). Federal Coworking Space hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday.

Building stairwells

The building stairwells are for emergency exit down to the street level. The stairwell doors leading back into the GSA lease spaces (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th) are locked.

If you enter the stairwells, you will be required to exit the building on the first floor and re-enter through the front entrance of the building.

Locked out?

Contact the Workplace Services team to provide access back into the coworking space between 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.

We are here to help

Our Workplace Services team is here to help once you’ve arrived in the coworking space.

Contact Workplace Services:
253-931-7886
R10WPS@gsa.gov

When requesting assistance include the area information (column number, workstation number).

WPS provides services for:

Monitor and docking station troubleshooting
A/V conference room set up and troubleshooting
Building issues reporting; temperature adjustments, spills, leaks, etc.
Lost and found items
Problems with workstation (desktop, locker, drawers, locks)
Employee privacy room access

In case of emergency

AEDs are located on the 2nd floor, room 222 and the 5th floor, room 514.
Building wide emergencies and drills, please follow the instructions on the building public address system. Occupant Emergency Procedure information is posted on site, please be sure to review.
Medical emergencies that are building related (slip and fall, pantry burn, etc.), notify WPS with details of the incident.
For medical emergencies, dial 911.