severely underused

I'm not sure about 'severely', but I'm pretty sure it still has worktables (if not the desks with vision-blocking walls it used to, a piece of furniture I'm now realizing I don't know a name for) along the edges with minimal traffic.

having people around is quite distracting

In my previous coffee-shop writing endeavours, I managed to reduce said distractions by going in the evenings when there were few people, plus throwing something instrumental on some earbuds.

Time of day

A thought I hadn't considered, and should. Which is exactly the sort of thing I started this thread to evoke. :)