Will Toms and Dave Silver, the two co-founders of REC Philly, announced that there will be a flagship location in Philadelphia's Fashion District. The 10,000 square-foot facility will art-focused, aimed at bringing in a range of creative minds from visual arts to engineers. The flagship site is set to open this fall at Ninth and Market Streets.
REC, which is an acronym for “resources for every creator," will likely be the only business of its kind in the revamped Gallery, which will be composed of retailers such as H&M, Nike, and Ulta Beauty, and restaurants such as Pei Wei Asian Kitchen and Chick-fil-A. Imagine a coworking space in the middle of a mall.
Daniel “Big Dan” Matthews, a current member who has used the space to work on podcasts, describes REC as a creator’s oasis. “It’s a support system in real time,” he said.
REC’s business model is one of a kind in the region, Toms and Silver maintained. A membership costs $40 to $80 a month, and includes access to such creative tools as a recording studio, a visuals lab, and common areas that are as useful for brainstorming as they are for networking. Different levels of membership offer varying amounts of credits that members can redeem to use the facilities. With the addition of the new location, monthly membership prices are expected to see an increase of $10.
“In laymen’s terms, we built a gym membership model for creative people,” said Toms. “We also provide education. We’re growing our programming all the time, specifically to help creative folks look at themselves as entrepreneurs.”
Silver and Toms, both 27 and residents of Philadelphia, said their mission of “providing infrastructure to build momentum” for creative careers won’t change. REC plans to keep its original location at 2301 N. Ninth St. fully operational. The company will fund its expansion with $3.2 million it has raised to date, including $1.2 million in its seed round.
Read more here
Join us November 12-15 for the Property Portal Watch Conference Madrid 2019.