It’s the former Tech Garden SYRACUSE — After more than two years of work, the INSPYRE Innovation Hub (the former Tech Garden) is now home to the finalists in the Genius NY business accelerator and other tenants, and plans to hold events to welcome other entrepreneurs. Officials were scheduled to formally open the expanded venue […]
It’s the former Tech Garden
SYRACUSE — After more than two years of work, the INSPYRE Innovation Hub (the former Tech Garden) is now home to the finalists in the Genius NY business accelerator and other tenants, and plans to hold events to welcome other entrepreneurs.
Officials were scheduled to formally open the expanded venue in a ceremony on Sept. 18. The $32 million project added two stories and 46,000 square feet to the facility. CenterState CEO announced the new name during the April 23 annual meeting at the Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center at Oncenter.
Buffalo–based M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB) on Sept. 10 announced it will be the founding sponsor of the INSPYRE Innovation Hub. M&T Bank’s sponsorship is for seven years but the bank didn’t disclose financial terms of the deal, a bank spokesperson told CNYBJ.
The long-term sponsorship with CenterState CEO will expand efforts to accelerate entrepreneurism and startup growth, “cultivate industry-disrupting” technology, and fuel the region’s ecosystem for talent development and attraction, M&T Bank said in its announcement.
With more than 90,000 square feet of space dedicated to helping founders grow their vision and bring a business to the next level, INSPYRE is New York’s largest business incubator, CenterState CEO said.
The expansion effort includes a 5,000-square-foot roof terrace for companies focused on uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to launch and test drones; a 3,000-square-foot meeting room with seating for up to 180; private tenant offices for 35 additional resident startups; coworking areas; an expanded hardware space for prototype and product development; and a new entrance, as outlined in an Aug. 9, 2023 announcement from the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
In addition, the INSPYRE Innovation Hub will house a renovated Hardware Center and a new Makerspace. Besides the UAS testing deck, the venue will also include a media-production facility and new coworking spaces.
“We have a 200-person multipurpose theater. We’ll have a lot of room for networking events,” says John Liddy, VP of innovation and entrepreneurship, who spoke with CNYBJ in an Aug. 25 phone interview.
As CenterState CEO was planning for the expansion, officials spoke with entrepreneurs to find out what they wanted in the facility, Liddy notes. They indicated that they wanted other entrepreneurs. To facilitate that, CenterState CEO is planning to hold a number of events in the INSPYRE Innovation Hub. Liddy says the organization even hired an event coordinator, who started working back in the summer.
“Our goal in the first year is to have 100 events. Second year to have 200 events, and the third … 300 events. They’ll see a lot of other entrepreneurs in there,” Liddy says.
Hueber-Breuer Construction Co., Inc. served as the contractor on the project. Besides Hueber-Breuer, Eli Smith of E. Smith Contractors of Syracuse also contributed, and QPK Design of Syracuse handled the design work.
“We built out the second floor and then the third floor is a shell for future development,” Liddy tells CNYBJ.
He also notes that CenterState CEO has leased some tenants on the building’s second floor. In early September emails to CNYBJ, a spokesperson for CenterState CEO declined to disclose the tenants who signed leases and would only say that “we are nearly at capacity.”
New name
“I am so excited to reintroduce the community to INSPYRE Innovation Hub … and share this building’s next chapter with the entrepreneurs who are making our region more vibrant,” Robert Simpson, president and CEO of CenterState CEO said in the April naming announcement. “The name INSPYRE reflects both the expanded size and scope of our entrepreneurial programming and our vision for what is possible. This state-of-the-art facility is a symbol of CenterState CEO’s commitment to helping the business community thrive as Central New York begins a transformational period of growth.”
CenterState CEO on Aug. 9, 2023 hosted a groundbreaking event for the expansion project on the patio of the former Tech Garden across from the Marriott Syracuse Downtown.
Throughout the construction effort, INSPYRE employees and tenants were temporarily housed on the 8th floor at the nearby Equitable Tower 1 at 100 Madison St. in Syracuse.
“As it was before, people didn’t always understand what the Tech Garden was when they walked by. Our goal is to be open to the community and to serve not just tech companies (that’s why we took the name off the Tech Garden),” says Liddy “Everything from Main Street businesses to existing businesses that are looking to innovate. So, we want to be a place where all those innovative firms [can] come participate.”
