BOK

What BOK does

BOK (legal name: Building Bok) is a 340,000-square-foot adaptive-reuse real estate asset in South Philadelphia, converted from a 1938 WPA-funded vocational high school into a mixed-use creative workspace and event venue. The building is owned and operated by Scout, a multi-disciplinary design and development firm, which has been restoring and operating the site since acquiring it in 2015. The core product is workspace leasing: 9 floors of converted classrooms and studios are rented to more than 200 makers, artists, small businesses, and non-profits, with unit sizes ranging from 100-square-foot semi-private studios to 2,000-square-foot production spaces. Complementing the workspace vertical, BOK operates multiple event venues (a 600-person historic auditorium, 300- and 150-person rooftop terraces, a gymnasium, and smaller suites) available for weddings, corporate events, and community gatherings, with bookings managed through the Tripleseat platform.

The asset also functions as a public marketplace: the first-floor WKSHP houses retail and food tenants (Rider Ceramics, Machine Shop, Two Persons Coffee, Miles Table, YUNS Hardware, Transport Cycles), and the rooftop hosts Bok Bar (seasonal, April-November) and Irwin's Sicilian restaurant (year-round). The 1938 Art Deco building is on the National Historic Registry, which constrains renovation approaches and underpins the "light-touch" preservation brand. Revenue mechanics span recurring monthly workspace leases, one-time event venue rentals, and ground-floor/rooftop food and beverage operations (run as independent tenants). Go-to-market is community-driven: free weekly public tours, twice-yearly Open Studios events, the annual B[L]OK Party, a quarterly newspaper, an annual yearbook, and an active Instagram and email newsletter drive both public foot traffic and prospective-tenant inquiries. In 2024, the auditorium was divested to Friends of Bok, a non-profit 501c3 with a community board, which secured an $800,000 state grant in January 2026 to revitalize the space as a cultural and event venue for South Philadelphia.

Name

BOK

Legal name

Building Bok

Website

https://buildingbok.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

BOK is a 340,000 sq ft converted 1938 vocational high school in South Philadelphia, operated by Scout since 2015, leasing workspace to 200+ artists, makers, small businesses, and non-profits, and hosting events, retail, and food and beverage operations across 9 floors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creative Workspace & Event Venue

akta.pro primary industry

Coworking Cafes / Work Cafes (THAFADAJ)

Keywords

• Creative workspace leasing
• Event venue rental
• Studio space rentals
• Coworking community
• Mixed-use workspace

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Workspace Leasing: BOK generates primary revenue by leasing converted classroom and studio spaces to makers, artists, small businesses, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs. Spaces range from semi-private studios (100-200 sq ft) to large production spaces (850-2,000 sq ft).
2. Event Venue Rental: The building hosts events in multiple venues including the 8th Floor Terrace (7,659 sq ft, 300 people), Auditorium (11,328 sq ft, 600 people), West Gym (6,205 sq ft), 7th Floor Terrace (802 sq ft interior/7,733 sq ft exterior, 150 people), Workshop (913 sq ft, 50 people), and suite spaces.
3. Food & Beverage Operations: BOK houses food and beverage tenants including Bok Bar (seasonal rooftop bar, April-October), Irwin's restaurant (year-round), Machine Shop bakery, Two Persons Coffee, and Miles Table, which contribute to foot traffic and community activation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

BOK operates a 340,000 sq ft former vocational high school in South Philadelphia as a mixed-use creative workspace and event venue. The building leases studio and office spaces (100-2,000 sq ft) to artists, makers, small businesses, and nonprofits across nine floors, housing over 200 tenants. BOK also rents multiple event venues accommodating 10 to 600 people, including an Art Deco auditorium, terraces, gymnasium, and suites, while the first-floor WKSHP marketplace and on-site food and beverage tenants provide public-facing amenities.

Product overview

BOK (Building Bok) is a converted 340,000 sq ft former technical high school in South Philadelphia, now serving as a multi-use community workspace and cultural venue operated by Scout since 2015. The offering consists of workspace leasing (spaces from 100 sq ft semi-private studios to 2,000 sq ft production spaces for over 200 businesses), event venues (auditorium, terraces, gymnasiums, and suites for events of 10-600 people), food and beverage operations (Bok Bar rooftop bar, Irwin's Sicilian restaurant, WKSHP marketplace with cafes and retail), community programming (Open Studios, B[L]OK Party, quarterly newspaper, annual yearbook), and the ongoing Auditorium Reimagined project to revitalize the historic 1938 Art Deco auditorium.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Workspace Leasing

Quantifiable outcome

• 61% of businesses are South Philly resident-owned, supporting local economic development
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Friends of BokcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Friends of Bok is a non-profit 501c3 organization with community board members that now owns the auditorium and will direct and oversee the space as a cultural and event venue for South Philadelphia. The Friends of Bok received an $800,000 Local Shares Account Fund grant in January 2026 for auditorium revitalization.
• ISA ArchitectscoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2019ISA Architects worked with BOK to create the master plan for the historic auditorium reimagining project, designing a nimble, flexible, and innovative approach to reduce the 1400+ seat space to maximum 600 people capacity with ability to separate into intimate venues.
• StoryCorpsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014StoryCorps collaborated with BOK in 2014 (with Knight Foundation support) on the South Philly Stoop project, encouraging interaction between neighbors through community storytelling initiatives.
• ScoutcoreOthersScout is a multi-disciplinary design and development firm that owns and operates BOK. They have been lovingly restoring and operating the building since 2015, employing a 'light-touch' approach to renovation that respects and repairs the building's found condition.
• Southwark SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSouthwark School is a public K-8 community school adjacent to BOK. Their 3rd grade students helped inform the design of the South Philly Stoop. BOK works closely with the school on events, resource sharing, and the school uses the auditorium for graduations and talent shows. Southwark Elementary continues to use the space for their graduations and talent shows today.
• SEAMAACcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSEAMAAC (Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition) is a core community partner of BOK, providing services to local immigrant communities. The Wyss Wellness Center + SEAMAAC is housed in the building, providing care for local immigrant communities.
• Puentes de SaludminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPuentes de Salud is a community partner providing health and wellness services to the South Philadelphia community.
• South Philly Community FridgeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe South Philly Community Fridge is located at the South Philly Stoop (BOK's outdoor community space), providing food access to neighborhood residents.
• EPX Civic AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEPX Civic Association is the local Registered Community Organization (RCO) that BOK works with on neighborhood matters and community development.
• Cambodian American Girls Empowering (CAGE)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCAGE is a tenant nonprofit in the building that supports Cambodian American girls through empowerment programs.
• Girls Inc.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGirls Inc. is a tenant nonprofit in the building providing community services and programs for girls, BIPOC-owned.
• Phillips BlackminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPhillips Black is a tenant nonprofit in the building providing community services and professional development.
• The Welcoming CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Welcoming Center is a tenant nonprofit in the building providing community services and immigrant support.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Industrious: Premium flexible-workspace operator with national footprint offering private offices and suites. Represents the scaled, capital-backed competitive alternative to BOK's heritage workspace offering, particularly for small businesses seeking flexible lease terms.
• Chelsea Market: Iconic former Nabisco factory in Manhattan converted into a food hall, retail, and office destination operated by Jamestown. Comparable in adaptive-reuse heritage and F&B-anchored mixed-use model, but at materially larger scale and more retail/food-skewed than BOK's workspace-led mix.
• WeWork: Global flexible-workspace operator serving small and mid-size tenants. Competes for BOK's workspace customer base with greater pricing scale, standardized service, and brand recognition, but lacks BOK's historic-building character, F&B ecosystem, and community programming depth.

Regional players

• Battersea Power Station: London landmark adaptive reuse of a 1930s power station into a mixed-use destination with retail, F&B, office, and event space. Highly comparable in the historic-building-to-creative-mixed-use thesis and F&B/event programming, but operates in a different geography with materially different scale and tenant mix.

Direct peers

• The Yard: Operator of multiple coworking and shared office locations in heritage buildings across NYC, Philadelphia, and other cities. Directly comparable as a workspace-leasing business targeting small businesses, creatives, and entrepreneurs, though distributed across multiple smaller venues rather than a single mega-asset.
• Industry City: A 35-acre waterfront creative and commercial hub in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, similarly converting legacy industrial buildings into mixed-use workspace, food, retail, and event space for makers, artists, and small businesses — the closest direct analog to BOK's adaptive-reuse creative hub model.
• Urbanspace: NYC-based food hall, market, and event venue operator running multiple curated food and retail concepts. Comparable to BOK's WKSHP marketplace and event venue operations in terms of public-facing food/retail curation and event programming, though without the workspace leasing component.
• Ponce City Market: Adaptive reuse of a 1926 Sears, Roebuck & Co. building in Atlanta into a mixed-use food hall, retail, office, and residential destination. Operated by Jamestown, it shares BOK's historic-building conversion thesis, F&B-anchored tenant mix, and event/programming orientation.
• Gotham West Market: Curated food hall in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen combining multiple chef-driven vendors under one roof. Comparable to BOK's F&B tenant curation model, mixed retail/food positioning, and event-driven foot traffic, though smaller in scale and food-only in focus.

Others

• Jamestown: Real estate investment and operating company specializing in adaptive reuse of historic properties, including Ponce City Market and Chelsea Market. Relevant as both a direct operator of comparable assets and a potential strategic capital partner for BOK-style projects at scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/irwinsupstairs
• Facebookfacebook.com/buildingbok
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/building-bok-lp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BOK