The Faces of Summer

People You Want to Know: No.3

“It came this close,” said Christian Macy, holding his hands apart at about the height of a toaster oven, when I asked him whether Fuse at the Riverside had been hit by the flood. After all, “at the Riverside” is no joke—Fuse’s patio is literally the creek’s southern bank. Instead of being washed away, Macy hosted national news reporters on the deck as they got up close camera shots of the raging waters.

Think of Fuse as Boulder’s Roman forum, or Greek agora. Macy began construction on Fuse (which sits on Broadway between Arapahoe and Canyon) in June, 2012, and just two years later the resulting space is impressive to say the least: an open-floor plan downstairs of a broad event space and fully-operational bistro, complemented by the expansive outdoor patio and upstairs workspace.

At first glance, it seems like Macy has simply tapped into the coworking phenomenon, a worldwide trend of cooperative workspaces, where dozens of small companies could be based in the same room, mingling their ideas and rubbing elbows. But Macy has gone a step further, to produce a utopic arena of community engagement.

To get “that perfect office,” as Macy refers to it, you need to create all the workings of an actual neighborhood. The communion of lunching with your officemate. The band setting up downstairs to play a Thursday night swing dance set. The chance to bounce a crazy idea off your neighbor before including it in your business plan. The yoga class you wouldn’t have attended if it weren’t in the same building as your startup.

Macy isn’t done yet. A tastefully classy restaurant is in the works for the basement area (that’s three levels of Fuse), which has yet to be named but will be spearheaded by Corey Buck, former chef-owner of critically acclaimed John’s Restaurant.