After months of planning and negotiations, a five-year license agreement has officially been approved between the city and the St. Pete Innovation District to bring a much-anticipated Maritime and Defense Technology Hub.
At the City Council meeting held on Thursday, October 21st, Councilmembers enthusiastically and unanimously approved the long-awaited license agreement for the St. Pete Innovation District to take control of the former SRI International building. The waterfront facility is located on 8th Avenue SE and contains 32,386 sq. ft. of space. Built in 2009, the once single tenant building will now be the home for over 12 organizations. The future tenants of the Maritime Defense and Technology Hub not only want to leverage the unique capabilities of the building, but they want to be in a space with like-minded, future focused, technology-oriented organizations.
Alison Barlow, Executive Director for the St. Pete Innovation District, called the new partnership a win for all parties. “The concept of the St. Petersburg Maritime and Defense Tech Hub is - I dare to say it - innovative,” said Barlow. “It’s not something we have here today, and it’s not something you see commonly.”
To learn more about the announcement:
St. Petersburg Maritime Defense technology hub moving to waterfront property (fox13news.com)
It’s official: Maritime and Defense Tech Hub on the way, tenants announced (St Pete Catalyst)
source: SPID Oct Newsletter
Our summer youth tours are in full swing, and the learning hasn’t stopped. So far, we’ve hosted students ranging from elementary school to college age, with over 60 individuals touring the Innovation District. They’ve explored the world of phytoplankton with scientists from FWC and learned the basics of flight from the team at St. Pete Air.
Two helpful opportunities are available for small businesses focused on growth and innovation: FL FAST Webinars: The next session is on August 5 and will cover Communicating with the DoD — a key step for companies interested in Department of Defense SBIR/STTR funding. Learn more.
Our neighbors at the ARK Innovation Center, MADTECH.AI, are doing some seriously impressive work. As a Marketing Decision Intelligence platform, they’ve built a system that takes the headache out of data wrangling and lets teams focus on strategy. Their tools unify, transform, and visualize data in one AI-powered hub—saving time and uncovering insights faster.