Posted June 13, 2019

After years of planning, construction is underway on a six-story, modern office building designed to house numerous tech companies.
The project planners behind the Charleston Tech Center hope to fill it completely with large tech firms, startups and incubator space for growing companies. The project, located along Morrison Drive on the Upper Peninsula, is slated to open by late 2020.

Ernest Andrade, executive director of the Charleston Digital Corridor, said the tech-centric building will have office spaces for companies ranging from one-person startups to established software firms. Designs also call for retail on the ground floor, as well as an adjacent, small public park and a six-story, 800-space parking garage.

Andrade said the idea of having numerous tech companies in the same building will lend itself to tenants interacting — bouncing ideas around, troubleshooting issues or collaborating on projects. The newbie entrepreneur might learn from the seasoned executive.

“The fact that somebody starting out as a three-person team would have access to an established CFO or chief security officer or director of HR on the fifth floor over a cup of coffee in the same building — that’s very attractive,” Andrade said. “That completely breaks the barriers down. ... You don’t leave the building to gain knowledge.”

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