High-tech Hub Houses Creative Community
May 2016
By David Zaslawsky
The three houses on Clay Street, behind The Heights apartment complex of 164 units, were nearly torn down. Those three houses got a reprieve when city officials told some people interested in establishing a high-tech hub for start-ups.
There was an effort in the tech community “to come together and hang out and collaborate,” said Adam Warnke, a chemical sales engineer during the day. He said people needed “a central location – a tech hub – so we would be able to hang out, collaborate with like-minded people and bring the creative community together.”
He and others began looking at properties and the city and its Development Department recommended three houses on Clay Street, overlooking the Alabama River.
“We thought it was the perfect fit,” Warnke said about the historic houses in the Cottage Hill community. Warnke and fellow entrepreneur James Weddle bought those three houses in July for $405,000 and expect to invest about $25,000 on renovations.
Now there is that centrally located tech hub and the three houses are part of AIRR – which is Advancing Innovation with Regional Resources – growing the high-tech sector organically vs. recruiting companies to Montgomery.
The website states: “The place in Montgomery to meet, work, build, and launch your business, product, or idea.”
There are three office memberships for the AIRR properties: $50 a month, $125 month and $500 a month, with additional options for a business address and private desk. Monthly office rates are $550 for 160 square feet; $650 for 190 square feet; and $750 for 240 square feet. The offices are leased for 12 months and include furniture. There is a shared conference room, kitchen and common area.
“Every step we take in this technology writes our history of the tech-savvy systems of the city, whether it be connections to the world or connecting locally,” Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said at the announcement of AIRR’s plans for the three houses.
One of the Clay Street houses will be an Art House, where Montgomery Art Guild will be housed and artists will work. There will also be a coffeehouse, a biergarten in the back and loft apartments. The coffeehouse is expected to open by early summer and will be operated by Cody and Laura Bell, owners of Market Town Coffee and Goat Hill Coffee Roasters.
Another property is the Design House. “If you’re a start-up and looking for an office to house three or four of your guys, we’ve got plenty of room for you here,” Warnke said. There will be a learning center in the basement.
The third house is the Build House, which Warnke also called the Launch House. It will have co-working space and “we’ll house an accelerator,” he said. It will have “some living options,” Warnke said. “In the accelerator, we will provide the people – space, expertise and support for those who have a business idea, app, etc., to bring it from concept to take-off. It’s similar to the idea of a business incubator, but as the name suggests, the timetable for getting the business off the ground will be accelerated – somewhere around 90 days.”
Intelligent Designs, a software company, is a tenant in the Build House and several freelancers are using the co-working space.
“It starts with connecting dots and you start trusting each other and good things can happen,” Weddle said.
He called the three houses “an economic garden.”
“These are dynamic young men and women who have a great idea,” Strange said. The city will help “in every way we can” for them to be successful. Strange pointed out that renovating those three houses is “revitalizing this particular area.”
Loft Apartments Available at AIRR Site
By David Zaslawsky
There will be five loft apartments in the AIRR development on Clay Street, including four in the Build House, which is also known as the Launch House.
Each loft apartment at the Launch House will have a bedroom and bathroom in addition to a common area and kitchen space shared by the co-working space downstairs. The loft apartments are $550 a month on a short- or long-term lease.
In addition to those four, there is a one-bedroom, one-bathroom loft apartment in the Art House with a living room and kitchenette. The monthly rent will vary from $750 to $1,000 depending on the length of the lease.
The Art House already has a short-term tenant while the other four loft apartments were not available until early May. The owners plan to use Airbnb to rent the loft apartments as well.
