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Could Techies Get a Floating Home Near California?

International companies would catch a big business break, and the apartments could be cool. But what are the odds of success? Weigh in here

Mitchell Parker April 16, 2013

Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor.

Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative... More

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Imagine living and working on a floating community 12 miles off the coast of Northern California. Blueseed, a Palo Alto start-up founded in 2011 by Max Marty and partially backed by Mike Maples of Floodgate, wants to make that a reality.

The wild idea is that foreign-based companies and their employees can set up shop aboard the vessel, live in residential suites and operate their start-ups without the need for U.S. work visas. A 30-minute ferry ride to Half Moon Bay would put them about a half-hour car ride from investors and key industry people in Silicon Valley. Could it actually happen?

"The general rule is, if a person is not physically present in the U.S., then you don’t need U.S. immigration status," says Emily Curray, a managing partner at Stern & Curray, a global immigration law firm. She says the legality of Blueseed's operation appears sound. If the residents aboard Blueseed are employed by foreign-based companies, they can visit Silicon Valley on a visitor's visa (easier to obtain than a work visa) and engage in any number of activities, including attending meetings with potential business partners and future investors, negotiating contracts and even training workers. "It's a creative solution," Curray says.

Foreign companies stand to benefit most, as they'd have unprecedented physical access to tech heavyweights and their investment dollars, but could still function as foreign operations.

The onboard apartments would offer some interesting side benefits for residents, too. The designs are intended to help people connect and share ideas, and there would be tree-lined promenades with shops and cafés.

Marty still needs to raise $18 million of the $27 million he needs to launch, which he's hoping to do at the end of 2013. And since he's looking to save money by leasing an old cruise ship rather than buying and retrofitting a new one, he’s got big plans to drop about $10 million to create stunning interior designs through well-chosen colors, carpeting, tricked-out lighting, modern furniture and smart spatial planning.

Making Things Livable

“I want to create more of a town-community feel,” Marty says. “Cruise ships are designed for people to stay for a week or a month at the most. These people will be living here six months to a year.”

He wants to create a modern workspace that gets people talking to one another. He’s looking at the psychology of spatial planning and how to create spaces that foster engagement with different people to share ideas.

This rendering shows his plans to do that by remodeling a cruise ship's dining hall into an airy, open workspace with hallways and passages that force people to walk through different areas and by different people when arriving to work, walking to the bathroom, going to lunch and leaving work.

Bringing in lots of light is important too, so putting the work area in an atrium space with lots of windows is key. “You already feel isolated on a ship,” he says. “We don’t want people to feel like they’re cooped up in the middle of a dark building.”

He's also looking at the psychology behind how bright colors can positively affect moods and productivity. Having plants and trees also helps, as does mimicking them with the color green. "Bascially, we don't want to create a sterile environment," Marty says.

Each company would pay a combination of rent and equity to Blueseed. The monthly rent would range from $1,200 for a shared cabin to $3,000 for a high-end single room. The price would include office space.

Personal experience influenced Marty's vision for the public spaces. When he went on a cruise in 2005, he loved the experience. There was a promenade with cafés and shops that spanned the length of the ship. It was a big, open space with multiple levels going up. Windows from interior-facing cabins looked over the open space. “It had this European city feel on the ship,” he says. “It didn’t feel isolated at all. It felt like sitting in Venice.”

A similar experience is envisioned for the first Blueseed ship.

While plants and trees inside would be vital, Marty says, outdoor green space would be just as important. Tree-lined walkways and seating areas would be designed to bring people together.

Marty wants to add creative design and lighting to make the experience stand out and not feel stale.

He also wants the cabins on top to have a view of the cafés below, so people can feel connected with others gathering in the public spaces.

Rough Waters

There are still legal hurdles to get through for the idea move forward. Still to be solved: How to dispose of onboard waste while in open water, the environmental impact of ferrying people across the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and where to dock the ship for general maintenance (the company is considering Vancouver and Mexico as options).

"We know we have to obey the rules," says Blueseed president Dario Mutabdzija, who says the environmental logistics are the most complex issues. "We're hoping to do an even better job than we have to."

Kurt Micklow, a maritime attorney at Brodsky, Micklow, Bull and Weiss in Oakland, California, is skeptical. "For 30 years I've seen dreamers and schemers trying to do something like this in the middle of the ocean," he says. "It's not easy. Sure, it's possible, but not in any sort of reasonable timetable and cost."

But Blueseed hopes that Silicon Valley mind-set of innovation will power the company through the rough waters ahead. "After all, what's the point of being an entrepreneur if you don't believe you can solve all the problems along the way?" Mutabdzija says.

Tell us: Would you like to live and work on a ship like this?

More: New Tom Cruise movie Oblivion imagines life in the clouds

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Comments (51)

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PRO

User

Water element individuals would thrive in this environment! #fengshui #elevenfiftyeigh

Like April 25, 2013 at 7:43AM

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Ralf Pieper

Why have a shuttle, they could come to shore every Monday and simply go to the meetings. Given that this is a bay, maybe even anchor in the bay from time to time. I guess then the people on board might need more visas then they want to require?

Like June 23, 2013 at 6:51AM

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jeremyhope

Ditch the rolling office chairs, this thing is going to roll very very bad!

Like August 26, 2013 at 11:25AM