Notley Announces The Center for Social Innovation to Build a Community of Nonprofits and Social Ventures


Opening Spring of 2018, The Center for Social Innovation will be a community of non-profits and social ventures that fuel innovation and acts as catalyst for change.

 (AUSTIN, TEXAS) -Notley is proud to announce that tenant opportunities are now available for The Center for Social Innovation, a community of nonprofits and social ventures clustered at Springdale General. Located 10 minutes from downtown at 1023 Springdale Rd. in East Austin along the Springdale Road corridor near Airport Boulevard, The Center will feature a 50,000 square foot campus of office and meeting space and 10,000 square feet of co-working space, bringing together nonprofits, social enterprises and capital providers in the same physical space to foster collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship.
“Our goal with this project is to provide open, flexible and affordable office space that encourages collaboration within Austin’s social impact community,” said Dan Graham, co founder of Notley.
The Center is now accepting inquiries from tenants interested in working in the space with offerings ranging from a single desk to a stand alone 10,000 square foot building. Notley has partnered with Springdale General and architect Michael Hsu (the team that created Canopy). The Center for Social Innovation is designed to increase interactions among participants in Austin’s social innovation ecosystem. Nonprofits, social enterprises, city innovation leaders, and their neighbors will gather and collaborate in public spaces. Walkways, covered entries and a large courtyard connect the buildings on the campus.
Tenants will have access to shared conference rooms, deeply discounted meeting space and monthly on campus programming. “The Center for Social Innovation is really the result of a community needs assessment. We talked to impact investors, nonprofits, social impact companies, board members, service providers and many others, and we kept hearing over and over that office space was a major pain point. Other common refrains included the lack of affordable meeting space, and a concern that there were too few opportunities for collaboration. We realized that we could solve each of these challenges by creating The Center for Social Innovation” said Matt McDonnell, Partner at Notley. “Hopefully this is a model that can be replicated in other markets,” he added.
“I really think that in 10 years what we’ll have is an entrepreneurial area, or district, that’s centered in East Austin as a hub for socially minded businesses in every stage of development,” said Graham. “I really believe that with its booming tech industry, growing population and the giving nature of its residents, Austin is a well positioned city to leverage its capital, wealth of nonprofits and the entrepreneurial nature of the city to become a global leader in the field of social innovation.”
Springdale General is being developed by Central Austin Management Group. In addition to The Center for Social Innovation, one of the other first tenants for the property is Caffe Medici, who will be moving its Austin roasting operations to the location. There will be several other restaurants (including a potential bar), bike racks, Car2Go parking and ample outdoor gathering space at the property. Other nearby amenities include restaurants, Friends and Allies Brewery, Austin Bouldering Project and quick access to East 6th and Town Lake. “The mission of Springdale General is to provide affordable , flexible space for our creative and nonprofit communities and the Center for Social Innovation and Caffe Medici are the perfect tenants to attract other like minded businesses in the community,” said Daryl Kunik, Founder, Central Austin Management Group.
A hard hat tour for interested tenants of Springdale General will take place Wednesday, June 7 from 8:30-9:30 a.m. For inquiries on the tour, or for leasing information about The Center for Social Innovation, please contact hello@socialinnovationaustin.org. For more information on The Center, please see www.socialinnovationaustin.org.
For more information on Springdale General, please see:www.springdalegeneral.com