Modern, Sustainable Business Space in Alachua County
San Felasco Tech City is where affordability, modern minimalism, and sustainability meet. Inspired by the behaviors and priorities of working millennials, Mitch Glaeser and Rich Blaser set out to create a revolutionary business space in Alachua County. This building will join other Greater Gainesville projects aimed at making the business landscape more innovative, functional, and affordable, with the ultimate goal of retaining and attracting more local businesses and workforce talent. The Scherer team was challenged to create something that looks and acts like nothing else in Alachua County—and they succeeded!
Tech City sits on 82 acres of land with 300,000 square feet of business space. Six companies have already signed to lease the space, including a local digital printing company, Fracture, that will occupy 30,000 sq. ft. The first phase was completed in May 2019, and a second phase will begin shortly.
Engineering for the Environment
Tech City is built to place an emphasis on sustainability and healthy living. The millennials that will occupy the building are passionate about protecting the environment and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, key factors that are translated into the building’s design.
To help generate power for the building, solar panels, solar roofs, and seven 22-foot solar trees have been incorporated into the building’s infrastructure. Each solar tree will produce 3 kilowatt hours of power each day and help power the building’s lighting and power grid. The final product will also include 252 sustainable single and multi-family homes to virtually eliminate commuting.
The building’s namesake is the San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park, located across the street from the site. This location further reinforces the need to implement environmentally friendly practices within the facility.
Building for Cost-Efficiency
In addition to being environmentally conscious, Glaeser and Blaser also wanted the building to be economical. The end-all goal is to keep talented, young workers in Gainesville. However, small start-ups and broke graduates are unable to thrive with the city’s high business space costs. Tech City is aimed at solving this problem to keep new, and old, businesses in Alachua County by cutting lease rates almost in half.
To keep building costs low and leases affordable, all mechanical, electrical, and plumbing runs along the outside of the building, avoiding the inflated costs of running water through the inside of the building. The building is also only one-story, another economical choice. The Scherer team and building owners worked closely to retain building quality, while maximizing cost efficiency and value. Learn more about how the Scherer team reduces costs through value engineering.
To see this build in progress, check out this video!
Modern Construction for Growing Communities
At Scherer Construction, we’re always ready to take on new challenges, one-of-a-kind builds, and impactful projects that make a difference in the communities we serve. The Tech City project pushed our team to think outside the box in order to rapidly accelerate the schedule, bringing a 10 month project to completion in only 7 months.
Do you have a unique project that could use our expertise? Contact Scherer Construction to learn how we can simplify the process and increase profitability for your build!