Ocean City Celebrates DriftSpaces Alternative Workspace

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Co-owner Caitlin Quirk stands in a rented space for a working professional in the tech industry.

By MADDY VITALE The Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday to officially welcome DriftSpaces, a co-working and customizable event space, to 956 Asbury Ave. DriftSpaces is owned by married couple Caitlin Quirk and Drew Lewis. Quirk also owns Bowfish Kids children’s boutique in the downstairs of the building. DriftSpaces originally opened in March 2020 just prior to the pandemic. They reopened in 2021 and recently joined the Chamber. DriftSpaces is a co-working and customizable event space. There are Day Passes and monthly co-working memberships, as well as a venue for corporate and private events. And the hours are flexible. People can come in as early as 6 a.m. or leave as late as 10 p.m. Prior to the countdown to the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon, Michele Gillian, executive director of the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce, noted that DriftSpaces is an important addition to the Chamber's membership. “It really is quite an investment in Ocean City. It makes us 24 hours a day. You could work from Ocean City. How wonderful is that?” she said of the ability to utilize the office space at DriftSpaces when people are on vacation. “On behalf of the City of Ocean City and the Chamber of Commerce, we welcome you.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2SSGI3KXzQ Here are some of the amenities at DriftSpaces:

A dedicated semi-private desk
Use of shared kitchen space
Access to one of the Quiet Pods
High speed, secure internet
Free coffee and tea
Day passes
Mobile furniture to make every retreat or event fully customizable.
Sustainable break space, no single use items

While there are all different ways to use DriftSpaces, renting a space by the day, week, year or season, a Day Pass in the offseason starts at just $10 a day. Pricing is available by visiting the website at driftspaces.com. A Quiet Pod can be rented out for someone doing a presentation or podcast. For those who love the outdoors, there is an outdoor workspace that has secure internet.

Co-owner Caitlin Quirk stands in a rented space for a working professional in the tech industry. Quirk, president of the Ocean City Downtown Merchants Association, and Lewis, a New York Times Magazine journalist and author, said that they gave it some thought before deciding what to do with the second floor of Bowfish Kids. They wanted to give people the opportunity to work in a flexible office-like setting with a community atmosphere. “We were going to New York a lot and we visited my friend in an original workspace spot,” Lewis said in an interview after the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “That’s how we came up with the idea. We knew there would be a demand for it. There was enough of an island population. People need to work. The funny thing is, in the summertime you hear from people that work popped up during their vacation and they can’t work at their vacation home with the kids.” In addition to Michele Gillian, Mayor Jay Gillian was in attendance. The Gillians are married. Other dignitaries were Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce President Patrick McMahon, Councilmen Terry Crowley, Pete Madden and Dave Winslow, Michael Allegretto, aide to the mayor, and Ocean City Free Public Library Director Karen Mahar. Winslow, a retired human resources executive, said he definitely sees a need in Ocean City for DriftSpaces. “I think it’s something that Ocean City needs, and I think it will be really, really great. Especially for our visitors who are down for the week and maybe need a little workspace,” he said. “It’s just a great addition to Asbury Avenue and to the whole town.” For more information visit driftspaces.com or call 609-525-4109 or email at [email protected].