The Hive, Philadelphia’s coworking space for women, is closing

Melissa Alam made waves in the fall of 2014 when she opened the city’s first coworking space for women.

With its exposed brick and flower arrangements, the Old City location was a small spot that felt right out of a design magazine. On any given day, about five people would be working out of the space. And, real talk, it was the best-smelling coworking space we’ve ever stepped foot in. Alam called it The Hive, a wink to queen bees.

But at the end of the month, she’s shutting the Old City space down.

Alam said she wanted to focus on the other aspects of her career, like the print magazine that she’s launching. She also plans to continue the event side of The Hive, which produced programming for women entrepreneurs. It’s a change in direction for Alam, who once considered opening a second Hive location.

“It’s much more cost beneficial and just the logical business move for me as solo founder,” Alam wrote in an email, talking about shutting down the coworking side of the business. “As my first official company, it’s been exciting to introduce an amazing concept towards a niche audience, and I know this was just the first step.”

Meanwhile, the “big box” coworking spaces, like D.C.’s MakeOffices, have big plans for Philadelphia.