Downtown Raleigh is getting a new startup hub.
The American Underground will open @Raleigh at 213 Fayetteville Street becoming the latest location in a network of Underground locations that currently includes two sites in Durham.
“We had been considering a Raleigh option for some time,” American Underground Chief Strategist Adam Klein said. “Our aim with the Underground has been to bolster the region’s innovation future and economic future. By having a Raleigh location, we’re trying to take our efforts to the next level.
The announcement of @Raleigh comes two months after opening doors to Underground@Main, new startup space located on the ground and basement floors of the Self-Help Credit Union building on Main Street in Durham. Together with the first Underground location on the American Tobacco Campus, American Underground is home to more than 50 Durham startups.
American Underground is owned by Capitol Broadcasting, parent company to WRAL TechWire.
Klein said the plans for @Raleigh came together while American Underground was still constructing @Main. He said that American Underground looked at several locations but preferred to be downtown. The space at 213 Fayetteville St., totaling roughly 5,300 square feet, has a number of architectural features that made it attractive. The building itself has hardwood floors and exposed brick – features consistent with the look and feel of the other Underground sites. The Fayetteville building used to house a theater and Klein said that architects are working to preserve those features.
213 Fayetteville St. is centrally located – important for business. But entrepreneurs like to play, too, and Klein said they will also appreciate its location above the Foundation bar.
@Raleigh won’t open until late fall but the space has already has already landed its first tenant. Raleigh telecommunications company Bandwidth will locate Bandwidth Labs, its incubator arm, in the new @Raleigh space. Bandwidth CEO David Morken said that locating Bandwidth Labs in the Underground allows the company both to build its community and its workers to new and challenging ideas.
The @Raleigh site will have space for more than 25 companies and will feature a ‘regional coworking desk’ reserved for Underground startups based in other Underground locations. That means an Underground tenant based in Underground@Main can visit Raleigh for a meeting and have work space in the @Raleigh location.
Rates for startups have not yet been set but Klein says they’ll be comparable to what’s available for @Main tenants: $199 a month for desk space and $329 a month for office space. The big picture goal is for the three Underground locations to work together and with the community to promote entrepreneurship in the region. Klein would not rule out additional Underground locations.
“We’ve got our ear to the ground and are actively listening to what the startup community wants and needs at this point,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of ideas but we don’t have anything to announce.”
