Upcoming 'Pennovation' center gets operator

Penn's new facility will be run by Philly co-working space

An artist's renditioning of the University of Pennsylvania's upcoming "Pennovation" center.
Pennovation Works/Contributed Art

Benjamin's Desk, a co-working space in Philadelphia, has been chosen to operate the University of Pennsylvania's new "Pennovation" Center, the company announced Thursday.

The center is a 58,000-square-foot facility planned by Penn to provide researchers and entrepreneurs with labs and office spaces, creating an "incubator" for ideas that can be commercialized.

“Penn's leadership has advanced a new vision that will greatly enhance Philadelphia's regional, innovation ecosystem," Benjamin's Desk co-founder and chairman Mike Maher said in a press release. 

"We’re excited to see what happens when our network of entrepreneurs collaborate with some of the University’s most innovative thinkers and inventors.”

Maher's company will run the members services for the center as well as help host events and workshops at the facility.

The center is expected to open next summer, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. 

Pennovation is the company's second recent new project. In addition to its original location near Rittenhouse Square, Benjamin's Desk will open a new co-working space at 601 Walnut St. later this year.