Avon-based iDevices, a smart home technology company, has transformed a local industrial facility into its new 48,000-square-foot innovation hub.
The company, which develops and sells smart switches, plugs, sockets, outlets, thermostats and other devices, on Thursday said it spent $6 million renovating a former manufacturing space at 50 Tower Lane over recent months.
It recently completed overhauling the long-vacant manufacturing space and has set plans to unveil the site on April 2, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony from 10 a.m. to noon.
The company, founded by President Christopher Allen in 2009, said it’s been rapidly expanding its product line and workforce since being acquired by Shelton-based manufacturer Hubbell Inc. in 2017.
Its 100-plus employees relocated from their former headquarters at 136 Simsbury Road last fall while renovations were ongoing at the Tower Lane site. The former location was much smaller and split into several buildings in the Riverdale Farms Plaza.
Today, the new site resembles a tech operation you would see in Silicon Valley, according to Andrew Ragali, senior marketing manager for iDevices.
Along with new electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems, the sprawling innovation hub houses executive offices and several collaborative workspaces for software engineers and app developers. It also has a mini massage and salon parlor, a video game room, pool tables, a bar, a fitness area and a cafeteria with an in-house chef.
“It’s Silicon Valley in the Farmington Valley,” Ragali quipped.
Tuesday’s unveiling will also include the first public demos of the iDevices Instinct, a WiFi enabled light switch with built-in Alexa technology from Amazon. The iDevices-Amazon product is the first of its kind made in the U.S., he said.
