Report: Northern Liberties Getting Yet Another Co-Working Space
A WeWork co-working space in New York. The company is reportedly opening in Northern Liberties soon.
For the second time this month, news broke that Northern Liberties will be getting a new co-working space.
WeWork signed a lease for 30,000 square feet at the Piazza at Schmidt’s, the open-air residential and commercial center at Germantown and Hancock Streets, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.
It would be WeWork’s first presence in Philadelphia. It already has spaces in 11 U.S. cities including Boston, Los Angeles and New York. It also has locations in Israel, London and Amsterdam.
A WeWork representative could not confirm the deal and told me the company “does not have information to share” at this time.
Northern Liberties is set to become a hub for free-coffee-serving, techie-loving co-working spaces. Earlier this month, Alliance Partners HSP announced plans to convert the 220,000 square foot Destination Maternity building on 5th and Spring Garden Streets into SoNo, a horizontal campus with a few anchor companies and lots of startups. With its size and scope, it’s an ambitious endeavor for sure.
Meanwhile, a source tells the PBJ that Benjamin’s Desk will be expanding to 601 Walnut Street. (The Benjamin’s Desk folks declined to comment.)
Co-working in the Philadelphia area is exploding and becoming a very crowded marketplace.
The PBJ offers some data:
The numbers bear out the trend. At the end of the first quarter, 17 co-working spaces totaling 209,000 square feet were open or under construction, according to JLL data. More is on the way. Co-working firms were seeking upwards of another 150,000 square feet of additional space.
But co-working is hardly a sure thing. Just ask Marvin Weinberger who needs $100,000 to keep Venturef0rth afloat, and recently blasted the local tech community for not coming to his aid.
