Seeking an alternative from a hemmed-in corporate office environment, McMahon launched the business in the former mill 15 years ago. The location, in the heart of the city, has placed rich resources at his fingertips. Take art, for example; if corporate clients need to enliven their office, McMahon takes them up a single flight to art consultant Elizabeth Erdreich-White’s gallery. Or if he knows a restaurateur looking to soundproof dining rooms, he’ll send them to European wall upholsterer Bruno Jouenne of Soft Walls Associates, only a few steps away.
Among the tenants of 535 Albany St., “there’s a mutual respect and collaboration that’s really nice,’’ said McMahon.
Industrial buildings humming with independent businesses used to rule Fort Port Channel and the Leather District, but are becoming rare. “There’s been a large reduction in this kind of space,’’ said Bonnie Gossels, whose family has operated the building, which dates to 1896, for decades. Gossels has lost track of how many business are in the building, because some are subleasing. But of the ones she does know, she said, “They are the 99 percent. This is not just a job for these people; it’s their life’s work.’’
From his fifth-floor office, with stunning views of the financial district, Bruce Shaw, president of the Harvard Common Press, a cookbook publisher, produces 12 to 15 titles a year. He has occupied the sprawling space, lined with books and colorful Mexican rugs, since 1984, and said it would be cost-prohibitive in other neighborhoods. Gossels “could probably be charging three times more rent in this day and age,’’ said Shaw.
Like most tenants, he appreciates the quirks that come with the lower rent and funky space. When the tiny passenger elevator with French doors was out of service for a year, he took the freight.
“It’s part of being in the building,’’ he said.
