Why is General Assembly killing its NYC coworking space? To make room for more classes

Since 2010, General Assembly (GA) has counted itself as one of the many companies in New York City offering startups a place to learn, work, and connect.

But some of that’s coming to an end. The company announced today that it will shutter its coworking services next year to focus on its education offerings, which have become a much bigger part of its business. GA offers classes on subjects like digital marketing, backend web development, and data analysis — all of which certainly earn it more money than renting out desks.

Here’s how GA CEO and cofounder Jake Schwartz explained the move:

Over the past two and a half years, our community has grown much larger than our amazing co-working members. It now encompasses the tens of thousands of students who’ve come through our doors and the more than 3,000 alumni of our long-form courses, not to mention the hundreds of instructors and the 2,000 hiring partners who come to GA in search of top talent. Similarly, support once meant desks and space, but has come to also mean instruction, opportunity and talent for our students and hiring partners.

It is in this context that we have made the decision to stop offering our coworking services in 2014. It is not a decision we took lightly – but it is a necessary one as we work to expand our global network of students and alumni.

Of course, even without GA, New York City will hardly be without coworking spaces.