Just two weeks after marking its 10th anniversary last month, the Cambridge Innovation Center signed a new 10-year lease with MIT that will see it almost double in size by this summer. Founder and CEO Tim Rowe says he's adding 57,000 square feet of new space, bringing his total footprint in the building at One Broadway in Kendall Square to 122,000 square feet.
Already, CIC is the largest collection of start-up companies under one roof on the East Coast, with 240 tenants. Rowe says nearly 20 companies are on a waiting list for space in the building: "We're bursting at the seams."
As for expanding at a time when so much commercial real estate is sitting fallow, Rowe says that "people like to cluster" in spaces like CIC that bring together start-ups, mid-sized companies, and service providers like venture capital firms and attorneys. He also makes the case that when the costs of managing copiers, printers, phone systems, and Internet access are considered, the per-employee cost of being at CIC (about $1100 per person, on average) is actually more affordable than renting a traditional office on the Cambridge market.
Original Article: Cambridge Innovation Center to nearly double in size with new lease - Innovation Economy - Boston.com
Author: Scott Kirsner
