An innovation hub housing UNC-Chapel Hill services for startups and entrepreneurs will open next year in a new development from Grubb Properties.
The UNC System Board of Governors has approved a lease for about 24,500-square-feet in a building that Grubb Properties of Charlotte is developing at 136 Rosemary St., part of major developments that could transform downtown Chapel Hill.
During a master-plan revision in 2019, the university identified the need for more than 150,000-square-feet of space dedicated to innovation. The lease of this space helps fill that need, while also giving Innovate Carolina the opportunity to connect with more companies away from campus and at a centralized location.
Michelle Bolas, chief innovation office for the university and the executive director for Innovate Carolina, a university-wide initiative aimed at promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, previously said that there was a feeling that the onus was on corporate partners to access the resources the university has available.
"We want to flip that script and bring our innovation expertise to the edge of campus," Bolas said.
Within this space, companies could access Innovate Carolina's suite of services, which include market research and technology commercialization, among others. Additionally, the site will include startup accelerators and opportunities for large corporations to partner with university researchers.
Another aim of this innovation hub is to keep more of the companies that spin out from UNC in Chapel Hill. Innovate Carolina generally focuses on three areas of startup activity: companies based on intellectual property the university owns; companies that aren't based on IP; and student-founded companies.
As of July 2021, there were 538 UNC-affiliated startups active globally, with 446 headquartered in North Carolina and 196 based in Orange County. Creating a space where companies can connect with services and have direct access to talent coming out of the university could help keep more of this activity local.
"We know that if we can capture even a fraction of that within one innovation environment, it's going to make a difference," Bolas said.
Discussions with startups about locating in the building are ongoing, Bolas said. But at least one company has confirmed its presence in the innovation hub. BioLabs North Carolina – which offers lab space to life sciences companies and currently has offices in Durham – is opening a space in 136 Rosemary St. This will give access life sciences startups access to wet labs and opportunities to meet investors.
In the coming months, as it works on designing its space, Innovate Carolina will identify and announce other partners. The office is projected to open in the second quarter of 2023.
The lease the Board of Governors approved runs for 10 years and starts at about $1 million annually, with the amount escalating 3 percent per year. The first year includes five months of free rent, according to Board of Governors meeting documents.
