Public and economic-development officials from Hamden and beyond cut the ribbon for the region’s newest incubator/business center Monday: Borough 496, at 496 Newhall Street in the Highwood neighborhood.
Borough 496 was developed and is owned by Hamden Economic Development Corp. and managed by New Colony Development Corp.
Originally constructed in 1917 (at a cost of $38,000), the onetime Newhall School housed some 20,000 square feet of classroom and office space before the addition of a gymnasium in 1941 doubled the school’s footprint. After it outlived its usefulness as a school, 496 Newhall housed a number of town departments and services, and finally a community center, before it was shut down for good in 2004 and left derelict.
But not for good, actually. A decade ago the Hamden Economic Development Corp. began eyeing the abandoned property as a possible future home for startup businesses that couldn’t afford a standalone facility. In 2013 the HEDC acquired the building from the town. Economic development head Dale Kroop over time assembled a hodgepodge $9 million funding package from state and federal sources and historic property tax credits.
Today, the output of that process is a (still) 40,000-square-foot facility that houses individual and coworking offices spaces ranging from 650 to 4,200 square feet. Monthly membership packages ($100-$1,200) allow entrepreneurs to develop and nurture commercial ideas “in an inclusive and collaborative environment.”
Members (not “tenants” — to Kroop, a meaningful distinction) will also have access to an onsite business mentor who will meet regularly with entrepreneurs and direct resources to help them nurture and grow their new enterprises.
“We’re not going to just give people a key and say, ‘Good luck,’” explained Kroop. “We’re going to be providing services to them as the value proposition of the membership costs.”
Kroop noted that businesses incubated in startup spaces similar to Borough 496 have a significantly higher survival rate compared to companies that go it alone — 80 percent of the former group, he said, compared to less than a third of all new companies.
Kroop says that ideal business candidates for space in Borough 496 include light manufacturers, web designers and programmers, professional services and other lighter industrial users.
The first tenant to occupy space at Borough 496 is DCI Resources Learning Academy, an IT training and testing center relocated to the Highwood neighborhood from New Haven.
“I don’t think many people other than Dale Kroop would have had the [determination] to make this happen,” said Hamden Mayor Curt Leng — the fourth chief town executive (following Scott Jackson, Craig Henrici and Carl Amento) since Kroop first laid eyes on the abandoned Newhall School more than a decade ago.
