An Entire District of Innovation Comes to Boston

Anyone who has ever looked into purchasing Boston real-estate knows the sort of staggering price tags potential buyers face. For startups hoping to enter the city, ensuring they find the optimal location before signing a lease can be a long and intimidating process. Committing to opening in an incorrect location could be a costly, if not unrecoverable, setback. (Image courtesy: www.innovationdistrict.org)

Last week, Boston mayor Thomas Menino relieved some of the pressure on innovative startups looking to move into the city. At a breakfast during the New England XPO for Business conference, Menino announced the development of a 1,000 acre parcel of land on the coast of South Boston and the Marine Industrial Park into an “Innovation District.”

Spencer Trask & Co., a local venture capital firm, promised to provide $25,000 towards the cost of a startup opening in the Innovation District. The firm plans to determine which startup will receive the funds via a competition in July. Next year, Spencer Trask & Co. pledges to offer an additional $25,000 to a winning startup to help maintain interest in the district.

As his own way of building interest, Menino will personally direct “university and hospital presidents and their real estate staffs” through the Innovation District this summer. The main objective of this tour, as explained by Menino, will be to showcase two specific areas of the district that will soon be ready for requests for proposals. (Image courtesy: www.spencertrask.com)

Although a startup will surely exhaust the $25,000 Spencer Trask and Co. is offering in short time, the sum does sweeten the deal for companies considering opening in Boston. Perhaps the larger benefit that will come from the Innovation District is the grouping of similar companies. Just as financial firms build headquarters in the financial district, now innovative firms can rest easier knowing they are selecting a fitting property when opening in the Innovation District.

[Sources: www.innovationdistrict.org, http://bit.ly/aCWDU5, http://bit.ly/bQxXwW]