Convergence development aims to connect entities, industries to spur innovation

Work has begun on the exciting Convergence development in the Innovation District, and hopes are high that it will contribute to not only the physical fabric of the area but also help create connections between different industry sectors in ways that will spur even more innovation and entrepreneurship.

Plans for the first stage of the development call for four main elements, all centered around the existing Beacon of Hope landmark: an office tower along with a retail component, the MAPS 4 Innovation Hall, and a Hilton Curio-affiliated 107-room Stiles Hotel. Stiles Park, OKC’s first park, will also be reinvigorated and renovated with an open-air amphitheater and green space. Site-clearing and other initial work has already begun, with an anticipated opening date of summer 2024.

Speaking to a sold-out Chamber Forum audience last month, developer Mark Beffort remarked on the project’s serendipitous location in the Innovation District and its central location between both OU- and OSU-related facilities as well as disparate industry sectors and various government entities involved in economic development and entrepreneurial support.

“We felt that was a critical element to get both of those universities connecting together, collaborating together. And we strategically located the [MAPS 4] Innovation Hall,” he said. “So not only do we have a city facility that's geared purely around promoting new technology in and within Oklahoma City, we also have the Department of Commerce who recruits jobs and new companies into the state wrapped by the two major universities, all working together. So all we're trying to do is provide a place to ensure all these things can come together and happen.”

Along with subterranean parking to avoid impeding connections between people from surrounding areas and leading-edge infrastructure, the office tower will be comprised of 211,000 square feet of space (expandable to 220,000 if conditions warrant), including 50,000 square feet of lab space, supporting life science but also aviation- and aerospace-related office functions. Biotech firm Wheeler Labs is slated to be a primary tenant. Plans also call for a coworking element called “The Hive,” intended to be an environment where cross-industrial and cross-functional collaboration can occur, whether people are involved in biotech, aerospace, business recruitment or other nearby entities. The MAPS 4 Innovation Hall, meanwhile, will house programming, a café, conference rooms and coworking space to further encourage interaction and education on startup resources and other elements critical to startup support.

Speaking on the Forum’s panel, Innovation District CEO Katy Boren mentioned the project’s benefits to the district what is needed to facilitate more innovation and entrepreneurial activity.

“Their very intentional selection of the word ‘Convergence’ is really so appropriate. It’s the right word to use for what we're trying to accomplish, realizing all of the elements of an innovation district: putting people in proximity, ideas in proximity, in different industries, public and private entities, in an intentional way,” she said. “So that building is really going to kick off the core of the innovation district and make it the center of gravity for all kind of all things, collaboration- and innovation- and entrepreneurship-related in Oklahoma City.”

In addition to the startup support and entrepreneurial elements, intentional efforts are being made to connect with the surrounding community and provide opportunities for workforce development and participation in the benefits of the innovation economy. Eighttwenty’s Sandino Thompson remarked on efforts to engage with residents and break down barriers.

“We really have a very coordinated effort to engage with community and to figure out how we break down these walls of ‘town and gown.’ When you start thinking about academic areas or innovation districts in other cities, we're trying to break those down: we're doing it with MAPS elements around connectivity, and how we make the area more walkable and a little bit better connected to the surrounding neighborhoods,” he said.  “We're doing it with the education – there is part of the TIF budget particularly set aside for education programs, supporting both the public school system with Career Tech and other supportive education opportunities. So, a lot of the jobs that we're going to create, particularly in bio manufacturing, are not jobs that require four-year or advanced degrees. Some will, but a lot of the jobs are in [advanced] manufacturing, and so certification programs [will provide] opportunity. So we want to make sure that folks in the community know about that and can access it. And particularly with the Innovation Hall, we see the opportunity to bring them into that space and allow that space to be that dual benefit for the community there as well.”

This article originally appeared in the August 2022 edition of the VeloCity newsletter.