A Capitol Hill gem blending creativity, culture, and community

This month, our Seattle Chapter (Young Professionals of Seattle) is hosting its July Happy Hour at The Cloud Room, a coworking space and cultural venue tucked above Chophouse Row in Capitol Hill. It’s the kind of place that embodies what we look for in a partner: community-centered, design-forward, and deeply intentional about fostering real connection. Whether you’re there to grab a drink on the deck, meet a creative collaborator, or just recharge in an inspiring environment, The Cloud Room makes space for all of it.

Founded in 2015 by local developer and civic visionary Liz Dunn, The Cloud Room was built to reflect the energy of Seattle’s creative and entrepreneurial communities. And that energy is exactly why we chose to host this month’s event there. We spoke with Laʻakea Marquez, Community Manager at The Cloud Room, about the space’s origin, its evolving role in the neighborhood, and what it means to be a hub for cross-industry connection in a city that can often feel divided by sectors.

What inspired the opening of The Cloud Room?

La'akea Marquez: The inspiration for The Cloud Room came from Liz’s early experiences with coworking - specifically when she was living in London and was part of the original Hub. She loved the energy of that space: people doing creative, meaningful work, but also feeding off each other’s ideas and momentum. When she came back to Seattle, coworking here was still in its infancy. She opened our first version, Agnes Underground, in 2012 as a kind of experiment, and we learned a lot.

When we built Chophouse Row in 2015, there was this beautiful space near the top of the building - with a deck, a view of the city - and she remembered thinking: this is it. This is where we could do the next evolution of coworking, not just as a place to plug in your laptop, but as a place to be inspired.

Liz has always believed that space affects how we feel and what we create. So much of The Cloud Room is about setting the table - creating an environment that’s not only aesthetically beautiful but also full of interesting, generous people. Our members range from magazine publishers to filmmakers to tech founders to real estate entrepreneurs, and that mix creates a real sense of energy.

She also built in a bar, and we often host cultural programming in the evenings, so it’s not just a workspace - it’s a space for connection. During the day, it’s a focused, productive place to work. And in the evenings, it can transition into a more social, dynamic venue. That fluidity, that blending of work and culture, was very intentional - and it’s what gives The Cloud Room its soul.

What role do you see your space playing in the local community?

La'akea: The Cloud Room was designed to be a connective tissue for Seattle’s creative and professional communities. Capitol Hill has always been the cultural heartbeat of the city - it’s where so much of our artistic, activist, and entrepreneurial energy comes from - and we wanted to create a space that reflects and supports that.

We’re especially interested in what happens at the intersection of different industries: where a designer meets a developer or where two small business owners end up in a spontaneous conversation over coffee. That kind of cross-pollination doesn’t always happen organically in Seattle, where industries can feel siloed. But it does happen at The Cloud Room - and we’ve built the space intentionally to support that.

Whether it’s through informal connections during the workday or member programming, we want to make it easier for people doing interesting things in this city to find each other. Our hope is to be a home base for folks who are building the future of Seattle - across industries, across disciplines - with one foot in culture and one foot in innovation.

What's been the most rewarding part of running this venue?

La'akea: For me, it’s the people. Hands down. I get to meet incredibly thoughtful, creative, and innovative folks who are doing work I might never have crossed paths with otherwise. Over time, I’ve been able to build meaningful relationships with many of them, which is something I really value.

One of the most rewarding parts of the job is helping members find each other - connecting people who might not realize they’re working on similar problems, or who could collaborate in really interesting ways. I love watching those little sparks happen. Whether it's introducing someone to a potential collaborator or just creating a space where people feel comfortable striking up conversations, I think of my role as tending to that connective thread. The Cloud Room is full of people doing brilliant work, and I feel lucky every day to help build the community around that.

What’s one thing you want people to experience when they walk through your doors?

La'akea: I want people to walk in and feel like this is the place they’ve been looking for. There’s something really special about The Cloud Room - it manages to feel both welcoming and homey, while also giving you that spark of energy and inspiration. So many folks I give tours to tell me they’ve been feeling stuck - bored of the office, isolated working from home, or underwhelmed by other coworking spaces that just didn’t have that wow factor.

The Cloud Room has this unique blend of comfort and creativity. It can feel like a Capitol Hill hidden gem, and I love seeing that moment when it clicks for them - when they realize this space isn’t just another coworking spot, but a dynamic place where they can actually thrive. That feeling of discovering somewhere that feels like it was made for you; that’s what I want everyone to experience when they walk through the door.

Check out The Cloud Room and Join Young Professionals of Seattle at their Happy Hour later this month (July 29th, 2025):

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Website: www.cloudroomseattle.com