A rendering of Underground @MainStreet |
Entrepreneurs and startups have a new choice for office space and shared facilities starting last Thursday, July 18, 2013, with the opening of a second American Underground complex in Durham.
Several hundred people attended the opening event, which began at 5 p.m.
The Underground @ Main Street Campus is in downtown Durham proper and separate from the original Underground complex that is located at the American Tobacco Historic District. The decision to expand the Underground, which serves as a hub for startups and related businesses, was disclosed last November.
The new location covers two floors of the Self-Help Credit Union building at 201 West Main Street and includes the 22,000 square feet of space can house up 50 companies.
Some 40 companies have already secured space, including:
Archive Social, Duke University, Cloudfactory, NCCU, PopUp, Durham Cares, Sovereign’s Capital, Virtue Event Planning/ Tivi Jones Media/ Art of Cool, Zone Five Software, eyeNET Security, Knurture, PRSONAS, InfoHounds, ShiftZen, Hazard Studios, Text2Give, 519 Games, Robotfactorial, Changemaker Capital, StoreHouse, Trust, LifeKit, Side, Z Shift and Third Track, Open’s Horse, Splitmo, CrowdSearch, Latitude, Growth Partners, Mighty Thumbs, Haiti Hub, Investors Mosaic, CleanHatch.
American Underground is operated by Capitol Broadcasting, which owns the American Tobacco Historic District and is also parent to WRALTechWire. To differentiate between the two Underground locations, the American Tobacco site is now called Underground@American Tobacco.
Both sites serve startups but the American Tobacco location is for bigger companies employing as many as 30 people, said Adam Klein, chief strategist of the American Underground. Underground@Main is intended for smaller startups of between one and five workers. Startups can get into the space for $199 a month. Rates for students and recent graduates are just $79 a month.
“Our newest space in heart of Durham’s creative district features space designed to foster community and innovation with a focus on affordability for early stage startups,” the Underground says.
The new location features:
- Coworking Space
- The Bullpen, the perfect place for getting out of the house and working with like-minded individuals, or enjoying up to 80-person networking events
- “Smoffices” and Private Suites
- Smoffices and office suites designed for one with a lockable door and built-in desk, or full office suites designed for teams of two to four.
- Collaborate in “The Vault,” a retrofitted bank vault complete with TVs, video games, and conversation space
- Meet in one of five Conference rooms with flat panel TVs for presentations
Underground@Main opened on June 1. The space was built over the course of four months with partners Duke University, Durham Chamber of Commerce, NC IDEA and the RTP Foundation and Self-Help. Over the years, the space served several different tenants including a department store and later a bank.
Thanks to WRALTechWire for this capcom story & graphic.
