Public presentations set Monday for Innovation Square, neighborhood

June 17, 2011

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Area residents and business people will get two chances on Monday to have a look at the newest plans for Innovation Square, the 24/7 research environment being developed on Southwest Second Avenue.

The first presentation is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Gainesville City Hall. The second is set for 6 p.m. at the P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School community meeting room, 1080 SW 11th St.

The newest plan to be presented, known as a development framework, was created by Atlanta-based project consultants Perkins + Will. It includes the creation of a Business Improvement District, or BID, adjacent to the project’s core district, which comprises the 25-acre main Innovation Square site.

The BID will ensure that growth happens responsibly and coherently in terms of design, collaboration and sustainability. Members would be assessed a fee that would be used for improvements, but membership will be voluntary, said Ed Poppell, University of Florida vice president for business affairs.

The BID also will include the Santa Fe College Center for Innovation and Economic Development on West University Avenue at Northwest Sixth Street.

The newest plans also highlight a greenway, a pedestrian-friendly section described by planners as “a series of varying gathering spaces such as squares, plazas, parks, and streets for researchers, residents and visitors to engage, interact and collaborate.” The greenway will run north and south through the core district, from West University Avenue south to Tumblin Creek Park.

Planners also will present a segment on transportation during the public meetings. The project will reflect trends in other successful cities, which means it will focus less on cars and more on public transit, carpooling, bicycles and walking.

“Part of what makes (Innovation Square) great is that it will change the way people travel to and from it,” Poppell said.

Finally, in keeping with UF’s emphasis on sustainability, the plans call for all buildings at Innovation Square to be LEED certified – that is, built to green-building standards.

Launched in fall 2010, Innovation Square is a public/private endeavor that so far includes the Florida Innovation Hub, a 50,000-square-foot super incubator scheduled to open this fall. Plans also are under way for the Infusion Technology Center, a 120,000-square-foot building that will house existing science and technology companies, and a residence hall to house entrepreneurial-minded students. It will be the first of its kind in the nation designed from the ground up as an entrepreneurial-based academic community.

More information is available at www.innovationsquare.ufl.edu.