UF "Super Incubator" breaks ground

University of Florida and Gainesville leaders broke ground Monday on the Florida Innovation Hub, a business “super incubator” designed to promote the development of new high-tech companies based on UF research. Funded through an $8.2 million grant from the federal Economic Development Administration and $5 million from the university, the 45,000-square-foot facility is the first building in a proposed research park called Innovation Square. The building is scheduled for completion by fall 2011.
   The facility is unique because in addition to providing offices, laboratory space and shared equipment areas for high-tech startup companies, it will house UF’s Office of Technology Licensing and UF Tech Connect, the main commercialization offices for the university.
   University officials envision the Hub as a place where entrepreneurs, scientists, investors and students will gather to share ideas that lead to new opportunities.
   The project is also the anchor for Innovation Square, an ambitious plan to develop the rest of the block over the next decade. Likewise, Innovation Square is viewed as an important component of the City of Gainesville’s plans for the Southwest Second Avenue corridor that connects the university with downtown.
   “We intend Innovation Square as the last major piece of the Southwest Second Avenue corridor, finally bridging UF and downtown Gainesville,” UF President Bernie Machen said. “We believe what will rise here is a neighborhood of homes, offices and retail outlets – a happy merger of downtown, the tech community and the university.”