In 2014, we moved the Iron Bridge main corporate headquarters to Charleston, South Carolina. Once established, we learned that Charleston wanted to develop a technology-focused office building to expand and develop high paying jobs in downtown Charleston and diversify the local economy by expanding it beyond hospitality and tourism.
We met with the local decision makers over the course of a year or so and were ultimately chosen to develop the project on land provided by the City of Charleston for $1 per year, in conjunction with the Charleston Digital Corridor, a non-profit local technology incubator and co-working facility focused on the technology sector. The building is intended to provide a permanent home for the Digital Corridor and more permanent space for growing technology companies.
We decided to name the new project the Charleston Technology Center, which consists of approximately 92,000 square feet in downtown Charleston, including roughly 10,000 square feet of street-level retail space.
Iron Bridge selected the development team, including local engineers, architects and a general contractor, and sourced the construction debt and investment capital to fund the development. During the pre-construction phase, the Opportunity Zone legislation was passed, and we developed the first Opportunity Zone transaction in Charleston with capital from a New York institutional investor and a construction loan from Synovus Bank.
We also built an 812-space parking garage and public park and sold that facility to the City of Charleston upon completion. We completed the office building in February of 2020, on time and on budget, just as Covid was shutting the country down. Despite named storms, supply chain issues, labor shortages, and Covid, we delivered the project on time and on budget and leased up the office space in accordance with our pro forma. The office space is now 97% occupied.
Currently, the building can accommodate companies from 1 person to 100 people in lease terms as flexible as month-to-month up to five-year terms. Tenants must be technology companies or tech-related companies. Additionally, we included a number of finished office spaces that lease on yearly terms and share common amenities. Further the building includes a spacious roof top terrace and conference room that has hosted many building and community events since opening.
For more project information, visit the Tech Center website.