ALEXANDRIA – A local landmark soon may become a business incubator and accelerator if one city native has his way.
Steve Martin, co-founder of My Healthcare, LLC, has submitted to the Alexandria Redevelopment Commission a proposal to bring the old Glove Corp. building, erected in 1922 at the corner of John and Harrison streets, into the 21st century as a place for small startups.
“It would utilize the concept of shared office spaces,” he told the commission.
Martin said he is working on financing to buy the building, currently owned by Redevelopment Commission President Gina Brisco and her husband, Curt. Brisco removed herself from the March 28 discussion with the commission and would recuse herself should the proposal come to a vote.
According to the proposed design by architect J. Nicholas Wiggins, the building would have up to 40 private offices of about 130 square feet each, with shared areas, such as a front desk, conference rooms and cafe that could be used by the tenants and members of the community.
Each space would be expected to rent for between $350 and $495 monthly on a month-to-month basis.
“They’ve seen it has been a huge catalyst for downtown areas like this,” Martin said.
Scott Baldwin, executive vice president and principal at Indianapolis-based Envoy, a construction and development company, said his company has agreed to act pro bono as developer of the property but would seek a fee for construction management.
Baldwin said his company has developed 14 similar projects in Indiana, Ohio and Texas. However, though his company is used to shepherding much larger projects in more heavily populated areas, he was drawn by Martin’s enthusiasm for his hometown.
“An office suites program is unique in that it needs scale,” he said. “Yet Alexandria has promise and merit at its own scale, and these guys are unwilling to ignore that.”
Alexandria already has what it takes to make an incubator/accelerator successful.
“Everyone wants to create downtown. You guys have one. You don’t need to create it. You just need to energize it,” he said. “The building itself and those around it would be exceptionally energized.”
The spaces would be ideal for real estate brokers, lawyers, IT and other service providers, Baldwin said. He said there likely already are people in the city ready to take their homegrown businesses to the next level.
“You likely have a lot of people in their basements and living rooms in Alexandria,” he said.
The incubator/accelerator would attract mostly millennials, who would use one another’s businesses and eventually would be likely to set down roots.
“They like to commune, and they like to share things, so this lets them do it,” he said.
The estimated $1.2 million public-private project likely would require support through tax increment financing, tax abatements or state programs for entrepreneurship, Baldwin said.
Office space in incubators also is recession-proof. Baldwin said the spaces in his incubators were 100 percent occupied during the Great Recession.
At 1.3 employees per suite, Baldwin said, the incubator/accelerator would employ about 50 people. That may not sound like much when most municipalities court businesses with 100 or more employees, but every little bit helps, he said.
The incubator/accelerator would be financially viable with an occupancy rate as low as 50 percent, Baldwin said.
“Even in Alexandria, that ought to be achievable,” he said.
“You’re establishing jobs in a roundabout way,” said City Council President Jeff Bryan. He is executive director of Alexandria’s Chamber of Commerce.
Alexandria Mayor Ron Richardson, who has been working with Martin for months to get the incubator/accelerator off the ground, said he hopes the project can happen.
“I think it will energize downtown, along with some other things going on,” he said.
Warren Brown, the city’s director of economic development, agreed.
“Every time you get an opportunity like this, you want to take a swing at it,” he said.
The Briscos became the glove factory building’s third owners in April 2012, hoping to be only temporary stewards of its legacy.
“When we purchased the building, our goal was we didn’t want another vacant building in Alexandria,” Gina Brisco said. “We wanted it to still be viable.”