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S.C.
Research Authority CEO Bill Mahoney (from left), Charleston Mayor Joe
Riley, Dixon Woodward of Carolina First, Choate Construction’s Matt
Brewer, Clay Middleton from U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn’s office and Steve
Lanier, among others, attend the groundbreaking at the former mattress
factory. (Photo/Chelsea Hadaway)
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The SCRA MUSC Innovation Center, envisioned as an incubator for the
region’s burgeoning knowledge-based economy, broke ground Friday on the
renovation of the former Weil’s Sleep Products mattress factory on
Meeting Street.
Slated to open later this year, the center is a
partnership between the S.C. Research Authority and the Medical
University of South Carolina to provide a space for biotech startups.
Researchers
and entrepreneurs voiced a need for such space with the level of
research coming out of MUSC, said Steve Lanier, associate provost for
research at the university. This center will provide a place to
“nurture, sustain and retain” biotech entrepreneurs, he said.
In
addition to supporting the breakthroughs that come out of MUSC and
adding to the knowledge economy in the Lowcountry, the Innovation
Center also will have a “transformative effect on this neighborhood,”
Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said.
The building — on upper Meeting
Street where the ramps for Interstate 26 flow up and down — will house
a police substation and a community meeting room, as well as the lab
and equipment space.
The former factory will be completely
renovated and restored. The original windows will be replicated and
replaced, as will fixtures within the building, said Catherine
Williams, spokeswoman for Choate Construction, the general contractor
for the project. The interior also will have new mechanical,
electrical, plumbing and fire suppression systems.
Bill
Mahoney, CEO of SCRA, said he hopes this is just the beginning for
biotech innovation centers in the area and that many more will follow
in the coming years.
Riley agreed, saying Charleston should become a “national biotech and life
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