Ground broken on tech center — a key project of Bloomington’s Trades District

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A project emblematic of Bloomington’s new Trades District is finally underway — a major milestone for both the city and the young not-for-profit business accelerator organizing the development.

Leadership from The Mill joined the business community and city officials to break ground Thursday afternoon on the district’s 22,000-square-foot tech center. The project is one that works to fill a tech-shaped gap in the city’s business infrastructure with a focus on attracting companies, growing startups and creating high-paying jobs.

“The tech center represents the latest domino in the Trades Districts and Bloomington’s evolution,” said Pat East, The Mill’s executive director. “The vision was and is for the Trades District: a contemporary, sustainable urban neighborhood that positions Bloomington as a tech hub, promoting job creation and wage growth.”

The word “domino” was repeated throughout the night as well as “catalytic,” “innovation” and “leadership.” East said the dominos may be slow to tumble at the start, but the inertia of the Trades District is gaining pace.

“This is just step one,” said John Fernandez, senior vice president of innovation and strategic partnerships at The Mill. “We’re gonna get some dominoes falling fast.”

The three-story, Class A office space in the southeast corner of the Trades District is heralded as a critical part of the Mill’s vision for the district and area. The tech center will be both a space accommodating to startups graduating from that term and remote workers to use as a coworking space. East said it’s an office space the city doesn’t have elsewhere.

Leaders also hope it serves as a landmark on the 84-mile corridor that runs from Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division to Indianapolis. The federal Economic Development Administration estimates the project will create 530 jobs and generate $51 million in private investment.

“The tech center is another piece of Indiana’s emerging hard tech corridor,” Sen. Todd Young wrote in a letter read aloud at the groundbreaking event. “It is evident that this initiative represents Bloomington’s resolute efforts to establish this community as a dynamic hub for our rapidly growing. tech-focused sector.”

Many also applauded the strategic planning and the lift of all the partners involved in getting to the point of a groundbreaking. The tech center is being fostered under a public-private partnership led by the city and The Mill. Several partners and city departments were responsible for pushing the initiative forward, including the mayor’s office and city council.

“I’m very pleased to see an investment of city resources that reinforces our position as a key player in a regional economic ecosystem,” Council President Sue Sgambelluri said. “Occasions like this groundbreaking are of course a great opportunity to acknowledge the importance of clear focused economic development policies and priorities and to celebrate our success in moving toward a shared vision for the community.”

What’s next

The Mill held an indoor, climate-controlled celebration after rain soaked their outdoor plans. With intensely shiny shovels and a newly bought trough filled with dirt, stakeholders ceremoniously broke ground on the new project. Actual ground will be broken next week with an estimated opening date of January 2025.

After bidding opened Sept. 26, construction bids were more pricey than expected at nearly $12.8 million. The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission then allotted $3.7 million of the city’s Consolidated Tax Increment Finance (better known as TIF) fund on Sept. 27 to fill the gap in funding. The city’s contribution now totals $9.2 million. A $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration rounds out the funding.

So far, about $8 million in contracts have been awarded to two construction companies for site work, general trades and roofing. Bids for fire protection, mechanical and electrical still remain to be decided.

Year 5 at the Mill

East said that making it five years has been a big accomplishment — noting the initial uncertainty expressed about the endeavor and how many startups don’t make it this far. Several who spoke said they invested in the Mill project hoping it would stay afloat and the results have been far better than expected. East said membership is at an all-time high and programming is expanding.

“We’re not just alive,” he said. “We’re thriving.”

Early this year, the city announced The Mill would oversee the development of the Trades District. The Mill, which is housed within the district, is a not-for-profit with a mission to accelerate startup ventures, support applicable programming and build up the local business ecosystem. It also serves as a coworking space and has launched several grant initiatives.

The groundbreaking is a capstone event of the Mill’s Innovation Week as well as a lead-in to its fifth birthday celebration. Other business this week includes the Crossroads 2023 Fall Pitch Competition, the Community Innovation Awards, an innovation boot camp and a networking breakfast.

The center also regularly features pitch competitions, coding workshops, networking and various other events and programs. East said they have grown to be much more than just a co-working space.

“All of these are resources that we did not have five years ago,” East said. “We can leverage that infrastructure that we built during those last five years for the tech center.”

Several city and business leaders spoke of the impact The Mill has had within its five years and how projects, like the tech center and its startup accelerators, is having real impact on building a business ecosystem the city has long lacked. Many spoke of how the entrepreneurial ideas already exist in the region but didn’t previously have an engine to make them tangible and succeed commercially.

East ended his remarks with what he a similar crowd five years ago when they celebrated the opening:

“One thing we know about the story of the Mill is that this is still the opening act. I’m confident that in 20 years, we’ll all look up and say, ‘Wow, I knew the Mill would have a big impact on the trajectory of Bloomington, but I didn’t realize to this degree.'”

The Trades District vision

The 12-acre Trades District resides within the pre-existing 65-acre Bloomington Certified Technology Park. At the moment, it’s a few grassy, unused lots on the outskirts of downtown teeming with potential.

It’s nearby to several already existing hotels and Kirkwood Avenue’s retail and restaurants. Indiana University is about a mile away, and a nearby walking trail serves as an artery throughout downtown.

The goal is to turn the underutilized space into a regional hub for business professionals and an innovative economy, Fernandez previously told Inside INdiana Business. He said they hope to build a neighborhood the city doesn’t have — one for young business professionals to work, play and reside.

“We need to build a neighborhood that kind of feels right for the kind of talent that we want to retain and attract to Bloomington,” he told IIB in August.

The Mill appointed a nine-person advisory board to guide development in the innovation district. The collection of people will be used as a sounding board to hear pitches, give feedback and pitch their own ideas. Made up of local stakeholders, Fernadez said it may grow to 15 members, and they are especially looking for omni-busy startup founders to join since a portion of the development is targeted at that group.

Another development on the horizon is a $35 million boutique hotel aimed to support the vision for the area and attract business professionals in the region.

Also nearby, the redevelopment commission sold the former Kiln Building to a collective of local businesses last November. The new owners plan to redevelop the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, into useable space for the businesses, and eventually add more stories for use by graduates of The Mill or other companies.

In January, the former Showers Administration building was sold to Eurton Qualified Opportunity Fund LLC, which said at the time it intended to restore the building to its original condition and seek tenants later this year.

Pat East will talk more about the tech center on this weekend’s edition of Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick. Click here for local listings.