TechTown, a neighborhood encompassing 12 city blocks, is bounded on the north by the Grand Trunk railroad, on the south by I-94, on the west by the Lodge Freeway and on the east by Woodward Avenue. Comprised of office buildings, a school, a museum, residential developments, and retail space, TechTown also houses NextEnergy, a 45,000-square-foot non-profit facility involved in alternative fuel research.
Within TechTown is TechOne, an incubator facility with over 100,000 square feet of rentable space on five floors. Currently, the first and fifth floors are renovated and “a total of 17 companies with over 99 employees are already renting that space,” said Howard Bell, the executive director at TechTown. Model D also leases office space at TechOne.
The forth floor is in the process of being redeveloped next, and already “one company has committed to renting a third of that space, while another Russian-based company has expressed the desire to rent the rest of the 10,000-square-foot space,” Bell said. This will generate another 80 high tech jobs, he said.
“It is hard to put a value to the presence of entrepreneurs and high-tech, well-paid professionals that have moved to Detroit and are working here every day,” Bell said. “These people work here, live here, shop here, and help create a better, stronger economy. They also help create several ancillary jobs, while creating a demand for more retailers, dry cleaners, restaurants and grocery stores to expand or open their businesses here.”
- Source: Howard Bell, executive director, TechTown.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.