Silencing Doubters, 16 Tech Becoming Reality
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowOnce thought of as an over ambitious dream, the 16 Tech Innovation District on the near northwest side of Indianapolis is becoming reality. Last week, the $500 million, 50-acre talent attraction development officially opened with completion of Innovation Building 1, a 120,000 square-foot facility that will house the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership and its affiliated initiatives, including Biocrossroads, Techpoint and Conexus Indiana.
“What we’re doing right now is building the stage,” said 16 Tech Innovation District Chief Executive Officer Bob Coy. “These are beautiful buildings and there’s lots of construction and roads going in, but what’s really important now is the play that will occur on the stage, and it’s getting the right actors here.”
Coy was part of an in-depth look at the 16 Tech project that aired this weekend on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.
According to developer Browning, the $33 Innovation Building 1 is fully leased, and will serve as the anchor of the 16 Tech development. Ultimately, the five-story building will be home to more than 400 employees in advanced industries.
Additionally, a neighboring Innovation Hub is nearing completion, with an expected opening early next year. The hub will be known as HqO, an homage to its past life as headquarters of the Indianapolis Water Company.
The 100,000 sq. ft. building is envisioned as a central gathering point, not only for 16 Tech, but for central Indiana.
It will include:
- AMP, a branded, 40,000 sq. ft. artisan marketplace featuring restaurant stalls, fresh food and produce from local vendors, a full-service restaurant and culinary incubator.
- Machyne, a makerspace with old-school tools and cutting edge equipment focused on bringing ideas—from hobbyists and startup founders alike—to life. The 60,000 sq. ft. space already has 500 members.
- 1776, more than 50,000 sq. ft. of flexible office, incubator and meeting space.
Shelton Mercer III is a principal with Philadelphia-based 1776, which signed an agreement earlier this year to assist in the development of 16 Tech. He believes the development is uniquely positioned for success in a very competitive marketplace.
“It’s not the only place, but it’ll be the key place where innovation happens at 16 Tech, where creators are turning into business owners, where innovators are being the latest executives, where children are going through a life cycle of learning and growing and being able to provide a lifestyle for their family…it will put Indy in place with other cities and regions where there is an intentionality about innovation that lifts economic development, that lifts life outcomes and that increases the standing of Indy being a global leader in the innovation economy.”