The Mill to manage Bloomington’s Trades District

January 24, 2023

Wednesday, January 25, 2023 11:24 AM EDT
By Alex Brown, Assistant Managing Editor
(rendering courtesy of the city of Bloomington)
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - A nonprofit startup accelerator is now overseeing the Trades District in Bloomington, the city announced Tuesday. The Mill has signed an Innovation Partnership Agreement to manage the development and marketing of the 12-acre portion of the Bloomington Certified Technology Park. The city said the partnership is an effort to “expand Bloomington’s economy, attract cutting-edge companies, and create high-paying jobs.” The Trades District is located near the city’s Downtown District and was previously occupied by the former Showers Brothers Furniture Co. Part of the property includes the historic Dimension Mill building, which was transformed into The Mill, a business incubator and coworking space. The district has several buildings already set for redevelopment, as well as open space for future new development. The city said the first priority for The Mill through the new partnership will be to finalize the vision for and begin the construction of the new Trades District Technology Center. Pat East, executive director for The Mill, said $3.5 million in federal funding has been secured for the project, which is being matched with a $1.6 million contribution from the city. “To accomplish the economic development goals for our region, the Tech Center must become not merely a physical space but a hub of connectivity that sparks innovation and opportunity and attracts talent and investment,” East said in a news release. “We’ve seen at The Mill how clustering tech companies in close proximity has a compounding effect on innovation. Multi-disciplinary, private/public partnerships will be essential in that network of connections.” Construction on the tech center is slated to begin this fall. The federal Economic Development Administration estimates the project will create 530 jobs and generate $51 million in private investment. “We’re excited for this next stage of the Trades District and Tech Center development, which The Mill is very strongly positioned to carry forward,” said Jennifer Pearl, president of the Bloomington Economic Development Corp. “It builds on our earlier work with the City and other partners to foster an innovative economy while redeveloping the Trades District for our community’s future.” The partners will also be searching for an executive director for the Trades District and the tech center. Plans for further redevelopment of buildings in the Trade District are already underway. In November, the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission sold the historic Shower Brothers Furniture Factory Kiln Building to a group of local investors known as the Kiln Collective. The group plans to invest $2 million to redevelop the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, into useable space and add more built-to-suit stories for use by graduates of The Mill or companies interested in moving to the district. Just this month, the city sold the Showers Administration building to Eurton Qualified Opportunity Fund LLC for $400,000. The city said Eurton intends to restore the building to its original condition and will seek tenants later this year. You can learn more about the Trades District by clicking here.