CommonGrounds Brings More Coworking Space to Center City

With coworking being a major theme in the lives of a large pool of nontraditional workers who eschew a 9-5 job served out in a cubicle, can there ever be enough options for a social, well-equipped place to work? San Diego-based CommonGrounds is testing that theory with an enormous new coworking space in Center City West, the company’s first location on the East Coast. CommonGrounds will occupy 62,000 square feet of 1700 Market Street, spread over two floors. The lease is long-term and will begin in early 2020. Market Street has become something of a ground zero for coworking space, with several other providers within a stone’s throw.

1700 Market is owned by Shorenstein Properties, which has made a large amount of spendy capital improvements since it bought the building from Nightingale Properties in 2016. Due to the upgrades, Shorenstein has been able to secure a host of desirable new tenants.

CommonGrounds is fueling its rapid expansion with a $100 million Series A funding round. Since January of this year the company has signed six new leases, expanding their existing footprint of seven markets from California to Minnesota to include Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Seattle – and, of course, Philadelphia.

As mentioned, CommonGrounds will be the biggest coworking space in the area. Will it be attractive enough to lure people from the slew of nearby competitors, however? From BisNow:

• WeWork manages 40K SF at 1601 Market St. and 56K SF at 1900 Market St., and has signed a lease for 51K SF at 1100 Ludlow in the East Market development.
• MakeOffices runs the [current] largest active coworking space in the city with 57K SF at 1635 Market St., and runs 25K SF at 2001 Market St.
• The Yard’s Philly location is across the street from The Ludlow at 21 South 11th St.
• IWG subsidiary Spaces runs a 38K SF space in the Hale Building at 100 South Juniper St., while sister company Regus operates in Centre Square at 1500 Market St. and One Liberty Place at 1630 Market St.
• South Florida-based Pipeline has run a space at 30 South 15th St. since 2014.
• Industrious has signed a deal to manage 55K SF at Two Liberty Place.
• At 2400 Market St., Fitler Club runs a coworking space for its members.