Landlord: Free rent for the unemployed

A local landlord is turning to an unlikely source to to fill space: the unemployed.

Office Suites Plus — which is based Lexington, Ky., but has locations in Cary and Raleigh — is offering rent-free office suites to out-of-work-but-seeking-work professionals for up to 90 days. 

“It is a tough time to be in business and even tougher to be without a job," James C. Baughman Jr., the president of Office Suites Plus, said in a statement. "This is one small way we can use our resources to help some get back on their feet.”   

It's also a slick way to build relationships and boost occupancy down the line. 

Office Suites Plus rents big spaces in office buildings,  slices that space into furnished offices equipped with phones and Internet, then subleases the suites to individual companies — startups, lawyers, financial planners, and so forth — that share a receptionist, meeting rooms and other common areas. It has 35 locations in nine states. 

“If an individual tries us and after concluding a search decides to start their own company and use a furnished or virtual office, special rates will be extended as a way of us investing in their business to help them get started,” Baughman said.