Developing Gaines Street has been an ongoing process in the city of Tallahassee, but a new tourist attraction will soon be the center of attention in Railroad Square.
Railroad Square will have the first completely Green building in Tallahassee.
The building, a community-oriented collaboration will be known as the Art-Tech Hub. It will consist of affordable workspace areas for young entrepreneurs as well as living accommodations that will be located on the bottom floor of the building. The building is part of the Gaines Street Revitalization Project geared to help the city retain graduates and young professionals.
Railroad Square Art Park is home to over 50 shops, studios and galleries with the work of local artists. It contains a mix of tenants including a rock-climbing gym, a belly dance studio, and martial arts school. Railroad Square owner, Adam Boynton-Kaye said they plan on breaking ground for the new building in three months.
The Art-Tech Hub is geared to appeal to those that are seeking affordable work and living spaces while the unique design will be an attraction to all. While the green building will get the most attention businesses around plan to prosper because of the innovative construction.
“We are excited about this opportunity because there are not many green buildings in this area and it’s a start to the projects that are too come,” said Adam Boynton-Kaye.
Jay Godin, the manager of locally owned store “The Other Side” located in Railroad Square has been there for four years and is excited about the additions in the area.
“Hopefully the building brings some business to us because it’s really cool thing that many people are going to come check out,” said Godin.
“People come from all over the world too see things like this.”
Huffman Associates/ Studio for Architecture is designing the five-story building, which will be constructed with recycled and green materials. The Art-Tech Hub will be made with materials that introduce heat into space, which increases cooling loads throughout buildings.
“This project is going to be a state of the art project. It’s going to be a new standard in terms of green architecture,” said Craig Huffman.
This is the first building of its kind in the Southeast region. Huffman Associates hopes the Art-Tech Hub will ignite the construction of other green buildings throughout Tallahassee.
Boynton-Kaye, the owner of Railroad Square is the founder of Silicon Tally, which will be housed on the inside of the Arc Tech Hub. Silicone Tally is a place where young innovators will have their opportunity to work on modern day technology and branch to the world.
“We want the next big social networking project to start in the Arc-Tech Hub,” Boynton-Kaye said.