A new innovation hub is set to open connecting UNC and downtown Chapel Hill. The UNC Board of Governors recently approved a lease for the university to operate a 20,000 square foot space at 136 East Rosemary Street. This hub will be the new home of Innovate Carolina and also is part of the larger East Rosemary Street redevelopment project.
Innovate Carolina is the university’s resource for innovation practice and entrepreneurship. This can help support programs and workshops for economic development.
The new Innovate Carolina hub is part of the greater East Rosemary Street redevelopment by Grubb Properties and the Town of Chapel Hill.
Michelle Bolas is the chief innovation officer for UNC and the executive director of Innovate Carolina. She said Innovate Carolina has been working on creating a central innovation hub for years.
“We’ve recognized that for external partners who are really critical for moving knowledge and discoveries from the university into impactful solutions in the world,” said Bolas, “we need industry partners, we need corporate partners, we need to attract talent and have a place or them to interact with our startups and our innovation practitioners and generally having that activity located on the edge of a university campus like ours gives us the best chance to really foster and facilitate that kind of engagement.”
The hub space is planned to open in early 2023. In addition to Innovate Carolina programming, the building offers co-working space with BioLabs planning to operate in the 136 Rosemary Street building and the adjoining 137 East Franklin Street address.
More than 800 UNC-affiliated startups have been founded since 1958, with 538 still active. In Orange County, 196 start ups are active employing about 2,800 people. Bolas said there’s still availability to claim space in the building.
“We will have dedicated co-working space that will include private offices as week as more general public spaces and conference rooms and a whole suite of service offerings,” Bolas said. “We’re certainly also looking to the development of the second building within the ground plans as an opportunity to attract perhaps larger industry and corporate partners or larger startups into the downtown area. Especially those who have an interest in and again being close to areas of expertise where UNC has current strengths.”
The hub is also a collaboration between the Town of Chapel Hill with the joint program Launch Chapel Hill. Current plans envision the 100 block of East Rosemary and East Franklin as part of a larger innovation district within the greater East Rosemary redevelopment.
Bolas said she believes that new hub will give UNC the competitive edge to be in league with other top institutions centering on innovation and entrepreneurship.
“When I imagine the space in the future, I see a really well curated hub that has a lot of diverse activity within it,” Bolas said. “I think because of the public mission of our university and the nature of our work we facilitate a lot of technologies and a lot of ideas that really translate not only into economic but into social benefit as well.”
Featured photo via Grubb Properties
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