David Cummings on Startups

Physical Atlanta Startup Village Components

Written by

David Cummings

in

,

After reading about Denver’s new tech startup center called Galvanize today, I thought it was time to revisit the Physical Atlanta Startup Village Idea post from almost two months ago. If you talk to startups in town about office space, they’ll say they want creative, loft style office space that’s in a cool area. Two of the most popular creative lofts areas are The Stove Works in Inman Park (High Groove is there) and the Carriage Works buildings in West Midtown (ScoutMob is there). The Stove Works complex is completely full and Carriage Works is almost full, showing there’s serious demand for creative space in town.

Thinking more about a physical Atlanta Startup Village, here are a few components that would be nice to have:

  • In-town on the Atlanta Beltline (22 miles of old train tracks that are being redeveloped into trails, public parks, and transit)
  • Loft style offices with tall, 12-20 foot ceilings and ample natural light
  • Within one mile of a MARTA train station
  • Walkable to several restaurants
  • Rooftop patio or other outdoor component
  • Great coffee shop (see Octane Coffee)
  • Plenty of free parking

A physical Atlanta Startup Village would need to be a amazing place that people people wanted to be a part of in order to be successful. As great as the facility might be, at the end of the day it’s the people involved.

What else? What are some other ideal components for an Atlanta Startup Village?

Comments

5 responses to “Physical Atlanta Startup Village Components”

  1. Zach Bailey Avatar
    Zach Bailey

    Ponce City Market could be a fantastic candidate for an incubator type space. http://www.poncecitymarket.com/home

    It meets all of your criteria, save one – it’s right on the Beltline, in an extremely walkable area, has a fantastic shop in Dancing Goats, and has outdoor space in the O4W park right around the corner and Piedmont Park via a quick stroll north on the Beltline. The one thing it falls short on is access to transit – it’s a little more than a mile away from the North Ave MARTA stop.

    I’d love to see it become another hub for startups in Atlanta.

    Reply
    1. rkischuk Avatar
      rkischuk

      I’d also add decent drivability access to the criteria. Transit options are great, but a significant chunk of Atlanta will be driving to work for a LONG time. In addition to distance from MARTA, Ponce City Market has the misfortune of being on Ponce – one of the most painful roads that I regularly experience driving on in Atlanta.

      Reply
  2. rkischuk Avatar
    rkischuk

    I would add proximity to Georgia Tech. It’s somewhat encompassed in the “within one mile of MARTA” premise, but qualitatively different. The imagination of students must be captured for a startup community to replenish. Galvanize is VERY close to Colorado State and close to University of Denver.

    Building a startup node away from Georgia Tech would all but assure that a later node would develop adjacent to Tech. Might as well get it done the first time.

    I’ll add that the Beltline is VERY cool. The Beltline as a draw for bike transit is awesome. But the Beltline as an alternative to MARTA proximity is a non-starter for a VERY long time. Until viable rail is connected into the MARTA network.

    Reply
  3. yashari102012 Avatar
    yashari102012

    Reblogged this on yashari102012.

    Reply
  4. Adam Avatar
    Adam

    Angel investors and venture capitalists (that have open office hours) should be located nearby as well.

    Reply

Leave a reply to rkischuk Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

More posts