Casa Marianas opens as Saipan’s 1st co-working, digital nomad hub

Around 50 community members attended the open house of Saipan’s first co-working and digital nomad space last Dec. 17, with several expressing optimism about Casa Marianas’ future as a viable business model.

“This is an awesome project that honestly, I've never even thought of,” said Latte Built 24-Hour Fitness owner Derek Cutting. “A lot of people who are entrepreneurs, they are content creators, or they're YouTubers. Some don't even have homes. They just travel their whole life with a computer, and they just see beautiful spots as they go. This is going to be kind of like a home pod for them.”

Cutting added that the CNMI needs renewed business activity, and Casa Marianas offers a glimmer of hope for a brighter economic future.

“I think the economy in general right now needs ideas. This is something that could potentially change the way others look at the CNMI,” he said.

Healthy Meals Catering and Cooking Classes owner Celina Calp said she attended the open house because she is interested in the shared-workspace concept.

“I think it's going to be a great opportunity for people to collaborate and meet up with each other because we're always trying to connect people on Saipan with each other. I think it's a great opportunity and a great space to be able to do that,” she said.

Trade Council of the Marianas president Vin Armani—a former digital nomad who stayed in the CNMI—said Casa Marianas is good for the CNMI.

“It really presents the type of situation where somebody who's maybe just exploring whether they want to be in the Marianas as their launch pad, they can touch down, they can stay here, or even if they find a place short term, and then they have a place to work with great internet, with a lot of support, but most importantly, they can meet other entrepreneurs, digital nomads, people in the digital economy, locals, come to events, really get a sense for the community, because that's one of the things that I've loved so much being here,” he said.

He also likened the CNMI and its current economic downturn to what Las Vegas was around 2010, where he actually first met Casa Marianas co-owner Blaine Graboyes.

“In downtown Las Vegas, which is thriving and vibrant now as kind of a hip sort of location for entrepreneurs to be, there was something almost like this called Emergency Arts, where instead of it being a hotel, it was an old, I guess it was like a hospital clinic type of thing that they remade. And it was almost exactly like this,” he said.

Graboyes said the idea behind Casa Marianas came together quickly, with him and co-owner Kevin Tang first meeting last November. Tang owns the Gold Beach Hotel along Beach Road, where Casa Marianas is located.

“We have hotels closing, but we're opening. And we wanted to show what was possible with two local business people collaborating to create a new product offering,” Graboyes said.

To this end, Casa Marianas aims to tap into the global trend of people working out of their suitcases—or duffel bags—and becoming digital nomads.

“Instead of recreating the products that we already have, co-working and digital nomads are very popular in the rest of the world. We just don't have that here. And we wanted to bring a little piece of that here to the CNMI,” he said.

Graboyes said he and Tang quickly found common ground, agreeing that the Commonwealth needs economic diversification.

“Really, the main goal is to keep people on the island, give them job opportunities and business opportunities, and bring people back who were born here and left to go to the mainland. We want to have economic diversity here so that everyone can create and have their own business,” he said.

Tang said he shares Graboyes’ vision for Casa Marianas.

“We talked about business, talked about the economy, and we needed to find a solution to pick up the economy. I think about my hotel because not many tourists come here. It's available, so that's how we came up with the idea, try to open this co-working place,” he said.

Tang added that beyond serving digital nomads, Casa Marianas can help local entrepreneurs start businesses in the CNMI.

“It can support a local small business and register a new business here. It can make it convenient and lower the cost. Sharing the office, sharing the conference room, sharing the Wi-Fi, all the facilities,” he said.

Graboyes echoed the sentiment and set an ambitious goal: “Our goal at Casa Marianas is a thousand new businesses in the Commonwealth in the next five years.”

He added that there are currently about 40 million digital nomads worldwide, roughly half of them from the United States, and that Casa Marianas hopes to reach them through Reddit, a social media forum platform.

“There are subreddits on there where people are talking about digital nomad, remote work, work from home, and we engage with them directly. We ask them what the benefits would be for you to come out to Saipan, for you to set up and incorporate your business here. And they tell us directly what they want from the product,” he said.

Graboyes noted that the CNMI’s status as a U.S. territory adds to its appeal.

“We have a really amazing tax structure here in the Commonwealth,” he said. “We automatically pay less than our mainland counterparts just by being incorporated here, yet you’re still in the U.S.—with U.S. bank accounts, U.S. contracts, U.S. courts, and U.S. enforcement.”

He also compared the CNMI’s potential to international free-trade hubs such as Dubai.

“Dubai’s free trade zone has about 7,000 companies registered,” he said. “If we could get just 1,000 businesses to register here in the Commonwealth, it would have a bigger economic impact than tourism or anything else we could do.”

Casa Marianas features an open-plan co-working area with business services such as printing, scanning, and virtual mail and business address options. Upper floors include a mix of shared hot desks, private offices, and 24 long-stay residential rooms for professionals and visiting entrepreneurs.

The property also houses Good Game Island, an esports and gaming hub that hosts regular tournaments and provides opportunities for local esports athletes. Beyond workspace and lodging, Casa Marianas aims to serve as a central gathering place for the business and tech community, offering hospitality support, networking opportunities, and amenities designed to attract new businesses and remote workers to the Commonwealth.