After more than 20 months of planning, collaborating, number crunching and teamwork, construction on our expansion space will kickoff this week!
Our vision for the Greentown Labs Global Center for Cleantech Innovation is to build the biggest, most comprehensive incubator in the world for hardware-focused cleantech startups to grow. We aim to provide all of the necessary facilities and resources these startups need to thrive. Greentown Labs is currently at capacity with 52 member companies and we continue to receive new member applications every week. With this ongoing and increasing demand, the Global Center will enable us to expand our reach and host more than 100 cleantech and energy startups.
Not only will the Global Center offer an additional 54,400 sq. ft.,–24,000 of which will be prototyping lab space–the new facility will offer dynamic and creative workspaces including a manufacturing hub, a wet lab, a green roof, an international landing pad for startups from around the world, corporate innovation labs and a roof deck. Additionally, the Global Center will include 24 wet lab benches, two electric vehicle charging stations, solar generation of 205 kW, parking for more than 200 bikes and an event space to facilitate up to 500 people. We believe when the Global Center reaches capacity, the Greentown Labs community will create, at minimum, an additional 325 jobs, something we’re particularly proud of.
The Global Center will be located at 444 Somerville Avenue in Somerville, MA, immediately across the alleyway from our current headquarters at 28 Dane Street and we’re excited to expand our footprint in such a supportive and forward-thinking community. We expect the facility to be move-in ready by September 2017.
Many may recall our official announcement about the Global Center last October at our annual DEMO Day; Governor Charlie Baker, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito and Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone helped us share the exciting news. But what you may not know is that conversations about the Global Center began long before we shared anything publicly. As we launch into this next chapter, we’d like to thank all of our wonderful partners who have worked with us through the pre-construction, financing and closing phases of the expansion.
To our lenders and supporters, we wouldn’t be here without you. A huge thank you to:
- Mayor Joseph Curtatone and the City of Somerville
- East Boston Savings Bank who led the financing for this project
- MassCEC
- MassDevelopment
- Boston Community Loan Fund
We’d also like to give a special shout out to Peter Scanlon, Greentown Labs’ Project Manager who has been driving our expansion project since the beginning. He will continue to spearhead the construction efforts along with our Operations Director, Sam Jackson, and our architect, David Silverman of Silverman, Trykowski & Associates. Greentown Labs has worked with David on three projects and we highly recommend him and his team! Ryan Construction, of Walpole, MA, was awarded the construction contract and we’re eager to see them on-site starting this week!
And last but absolutely not least, we’d like to take a moment to recognize the members of our community. Many of our entrepreneurs attended design meetings, lunch and learns, and are working with us to incorporate their technologies into the Global Center. We sincerely appreciate your time, energy, ideas and support as we bring this vision to fruition and build a truly unique space!
We will share updates as construction progresses but if you have any questions about the project, please don’t hesitate to reach out!