Clubhouses aren’t just for kids anymore with Sandbox ATL’s new collaborative space, The Garage. Located in the heart of Tech Square, The Garage will act as a playground where everyone from sweatshirt-sporting Tech students to suit-wearing corporateers can collide and construct their ideas. We recently met with Scott Henderson, CEO and co-founder of Sandbox (and former ED of Hype), to hear how this million dollar investment hopes to create a future filled with breakthroughs.
“Tech Square has the highest density of startups, academic researchers, corporate innovation centers and students in the entire Southeast, but there’s been no place for them to find each other,” said Henderson. “Someone needs to be the stir stick for this community and that’s what we are doing with The Garage.”
The 9K-square-feet hub will operate as a co-working space for members (who currently include 2,000 tenants from Centergy, Tech Square Research Building, and SQ5) and an event space for the surrounding Atlanta community, like the Blinkie Awards hosted two weeks ago.
“You have a critical mass of people working here, committed to augmenting Tech Square into a bigger, better, stronger place. The Garage is a place for all types of people to utilize our space, find each other, discover what’s happening around town, and build breakthroughs.”
With housing developments at SQ5 and University House accounting for 12% of off-campus students and NCR breaking ground next door, Henderson believes it’s the perfect time for folks across the community to do just that.
“When people connect and help one another you can feel the energy and it’s addicting. It’s honestly hard to go home at the end of the day because you constantly want to be around it. I felt that kind of energy back during Hype’s co-working space days at The Biltmore and it’s the same energy I’m excited to tap into again at The Garage.”
The Garage is truly a culmination of Atlanta old and new, from old z-racks from Hype’s co-working space days to couches formerly housed at The Globe (which we all know and love today as The Spence). While the motif of the space is intentionally humble, to Henderson it’s an homage to rough draft ideas built from a blank slate that help students grow startups into booming businesses.
From now until March 15, The Garage is open to the public, so pop in while you’re skipping around Tech Square. Draw up ideas, utilize One Ring’s killer WiFi bandwidth, and scope out their upcoming events.
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