Philadelphia’s 2022 guide to coworking: Where to meet, work and connect IRL

Coworking had its hold on Philadelphia’s remote, hybrid and startup workers long before the pandemic forced most everyone to work from somewhere other than their offices.

Coworking culture as we know it now has been here since the mid aughts, and we’ve seen communities like Indy Hall and REC Philly upgrade their spaces, add more room and really think about what makes being a member worthwhile in the years leading up to this massive change to work.

Each year in Technical.ly’s annual coworking guides, we’d keep you up to date about new spaces, amenities and trends within Philadelphia’s communal work spaces. After taking a year off in 2021, as many coworking spaces faced forced closures and safety concerns — check out 2020’s pre-COVID edition here — we’re back with your roundup of where to work in Philadelphia.

While some companies continue to roll out back-to-office plans, others have given up their offices completely (including us). Even more have downsized their space, said employees can work from wherever they want forever, or required a set of safety protocols to head into an office.

If you’re tired of working from home, but don’t want to commit to going somewhere every single day like the ancient times of 2019, coworking might be the simple answer for you.

Memberships often offer a mix of communal space and amenities with private offices, meeting rooms and a lower price tag than many traditional office space leases. First seen as the grounds for tech companies and young entrepreneurs, coworking spaces have widened to offer flexible space to anyone who might need it. While many began with monthly or yearly memberships, most now offer day passes.

In Philadelphia, you’ll find a mix of independent, corporate and boutique spaces catering to more specific audiences — think NextFab’s large, industrial makerspace or Mindspace’s lux, European-style look. If there’s a certain style or vibe you’re going for, you’re almost guaranteed to find it in Philly. And still, as we dive into the coworking offerings we know about in 2022, we probably don’t have to tell you that some spaces didn’t survive the pandemic, or don’t appear active anymore.

Below are your 2022 Philly coworking options, in alphabetical order. Did we miss any? Email us at philly@technical.ly.

• 76 Forward – The company rebranded from 1776 in 2021 in an effort “to re-establish their identity and re-ignite their mission,” and has locations in Brewerytown and the Cherry Hill Mall.
• Bok – After Bok Technical High School closed in 2013, Lindsay Scannapieco’s design and development firm, Scout, converted the South Philly building into a massive makerspace that’s now home to more than 140 businesses, including artist studios.
• Bond Collective — The New York-based, design-forward Bond Collective opened its first Philly location, Bond Station House in Suburban Station, which features a sleek “boutique” look and millennial-focused clientele.
• Cambridge Innovation Center — Inside a 14-story building at 3675 Market St., the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based operation runs a multi-floor coworking spot that sits near to the city’s academic heart. Also in the building are University City Science Center and Venture Cafe. CIC also has been operating its own lab space since late 2021, replacing BioLabs.

CIC Philly’s coworking space. (Courtesy photo)

• City CoHo —  Just a couple of blocks from 30th Street Station, City CoHo is a home to environmentally focused companies. The building features reclaimed barn wood desks, a green roof and a 17,500 gallon rainwater cistern. The space opened in 2014 following a $10.5 million makeover of the building in 2011.
• D4 Collective — This approximately 16,000-square-foot coworking facility in Manayunk offers a mix of private offices, production studios, event space, common areas and community spaces. The space was created by D4 Creative, a local advertising and branding agency.
• Industrious Philadelphia — The Brooklyn-based Industrious opened its Philly office in May 2015, and now has four Philly locations: 1818 Market St., 901 Market St., 2030 S. Broad St. and 50 S. 16th St.
• ic@3401 — The Innovation Center @ 3401 launched in 2014 as an incubator from Drexel University and the University City Science Center and is a home to many growing startups, including those in the Science Center’s Launch Lane accelerator.
• IF Lab — IF Lab, aka The Idea Factory, is a 3,3000-square-foot coworking and incubator space is located within a 30,000-square-foot building nearly finished in construction in Harrowgate.

Interior view of IF Labs’ reading space. (Technical.ly file photo)

• Indy Hall — After closing up shop at its longest-running location last summer because of the pandemic, the Philly mainstay is back with a new location near 2nd and Spring Garden streets in Northern Liberties. This time around, the team is leaning into flex work, anticipating folks will come a certain number of days a week or month.
• KISMET — In 2017, founder Christopher Plant built out his initial vision for the space with a sleek 6,000-square-feet hub in a Chestnut Hill building, launching the first Kismet Cowork space. They’ve since added a Manayunk space.
• MakeOffices — DC-based MakeOffices once had one of the biggest coworking hubs in Center City at 57,000 square feet, though right now, its site only lists its spot inside the historic Bourse building in Old City.
• Mindspace — Global coworking company Mindspace opened a Philadelphia location in 2021, occupying 42,000 square feet of the Wanamaker Building adjacent to City Hall. It’s the company’s third US location and unofficial flagship for its American presence, its Philly senior community manager told us last year.

Mindspace Philadelphia. (Photo by Paige Gross)

• Newbold Exchange — Founder John Longacre opened this 12,000-square-foot coworking space in an old theater in South Philadelphia in 2021 because he felt there wasn’t enough coworking space outside Center City.
• NextFab — NextFab hosts local makers as they craft and build, from woodworking to 3D printing. Since 2016 it’s run the RAPID Hardware Accelerator for startups in the hardware space, and operates locations on North American Street in Fishtown, Washington Avenue in South Philly and a space in Wilmington.
• Offsite at Fitler Club — Offsite opened in September 2019 in the new members-only Fitler Club at 24th and Market streets. A full 34,000-square-feet of coworking and office space were developed for folks looking for dedicated space to work, while keeping the club’s signature style of dark woods and rich metals throughout.

A common room at Offsite. (Photo by Paige Gross)

• P4 Hub — Sulaiman Rahman’s new P4 Hub in Germantown — full title P4 (Public Private and Philanthropic Partnership) Hub for Advancing Racial Equity and Excellence — offers business-building resources, with a special aim to give professionals of color space to thrive.
• Pennovation — This Grays Ferry research hub developed by the University of Pennsylvania features wet lab spaces for companies in the biotech space and a coworking space powered by 76 Forward.
• Pipeline Philly — Miami-based Pipeline opened its Center City Philly location in December 2014 with local partners Tayyib Smith, Meegan Denenberg, David Grasso and Josh Dubin. The space is designed to be sleek and modern with lots of glass and big windows.
• REC Philly — Beginning in the window factory in North Philadelphia, REC Philly grew in number and its contribution to creating a space for creatives. With now hundreds of organizational members, cofounders Will Toms and Dave Silver expanded to the Fashion District in 2019.

The Philly Freelance Fest at REC Philly, Jan. 30, 2020. (Photo by Paige Gross)

• Spaces —  Center City’s Hale Building has lived many past lives, but after a thorough renovation it’s currently home to a well-lit 38,000-square-feet coworking space, Spaces. The modern brand of coworking from parent company IWG has three locations across Philadelphia’s downtown core.
• Task Up — This coworking space with locations across Philadelphia is free to join, but costs per hour or day depending on what kind of space and amenities you’re looking to rent.
• The LOOM — This former textile mill turned makerspace attracts artisans and manufacturers. The LOOM has several buildings and is industrial and multi-purpose.
• The Yard — In a sleek, slim building in Center City, the Brooklyn-based coworking spot opened a 23,000-square-feet hub in 2017, with an eye to attracting a “more mature” type of entrepreneur.
• WeWork — The New York-based company has four locations in Philadelphia, including a hub up taking up 55,000 square feet inside the former Philadelphia Stock Exchange building. Its first space opened in Northern Liberties, inside the revamped Schmidt’s Brewery building.

WeWork’s 1900 Market location. (Technical.ly file photo)