Staff Blog
Peek at the new Independents Hall space in Old City
The Clog, along with Technically Philly, recently got an opportunity to check out the new location of Independents Hall (indyhall.org), the "coworking community" formerly based on Strawberry Street in Old City. Now situated on the second floor of the Daniel Building at Third and Church, Geoff DiMasi and Alex Hillman's brainchild runs on the idea that sticking lone-wolf freelancers together — think writers, designers, programmers, developers and entrepreneurs, clacking away in one room — both bolsters productivity and leads to networking opportunities. (Brian James Kirk of TP wrote about IndyHall for City Paper in April.)
The old digs (which IndyHall is now renting out for meetings, workshops and events) was around 1,800 square feet. The new IndyHall is closer to 4,400, a long, open space with two separate sides. The space is still a work in progress (it's been occupied for only two weeks), but all the blanks are being filled in rapidly — there are currently 30 desk setups (the old space maxed out at 24), with room for quite a few more. They concocted a custom system to get the in-house network hardwired, with all wires off the ground. Other features of the space include four bathrooms (full showers/tubs are available), three conference rooms (one of which features a one-of-a-kind table from the 100K House), a network printer, a PA sound system, a full kitchen/eating area and mounted flat screens. Coming soon: private enclosures, modeled after London phone booths, for people to use if they're on a sensitive work call.
Kirk detailed IndyHall's membership rates in his April piece, and Hillman says the prices still stand (they now have 21 full-time members):
IndyHall offers three membership options: $25 per month for a basic membership, which gives you a desk once a month; $175 a month for a desk three days per week; and $275 a month for full-time members, who have 24-hour access.
Hillman adds that IndyHall is willing to accommodate groups (say, a small start-up firm that wants to use a conference room space to tackle a big project) for temporary runs — but at the end of the day, it's all about bringing individuals together. "If you want to sit at a table by yourself, you can work at home," says Hillman. "It's designed to be an interruptive work environment, but in a good way."
After the jump, check out Technically Philly's video feature on IndyHall.
[...] A special thanks to Drew Lazor of Philadelphia City Paper in assisting with this video. Be sure to check out Drew’s coverage of the IndyHall walk-thru at the Clog. [...]
I love what IndyHall is doing. Hope to do this in Fukuoka, Japan within the next 2 years.
[...] to Alex Hillman of IndyHall, whose Twitter feed tipped us off to [...]
[...] the past, we’ve had good response and a significant turnout, and we’re hoping for the same this [...]