Nexus Louisiana is getting closer to moving into its downtown headquarters.
Earlier this month, the business incubator started construction on a portion of 440 on Third, a mixed-use building with grocery, corporate office space and apartments, aiming for completion by their July 1 move-in date. In August, Nexus announced its departure from the Louisiana Technology Park, its home for more than three decades, in an effort to be closer to other players such as LSU, Southern University, IBM and Louisiana Innovation.
Nexus will occupy the second, eighth and ninth floors of the building, a combined 28,000 square feet that was previously used as office space. Matherne’s Market occupies the first floor of the building and floors three to seven are apartments.
The second floor will serve as a networking space with a “hotel lobby environment,” said Tony Zanders, Nexus Louisiana president and CEO. The eighth floor will be workspace for tech startups and the ninth floor will be dedicated to Nexus staff and board, both floors connected by an additional stairwell.
Total cost of the renovations is not yet determined, Zanders said, but much of the floors’ structure will remain the same and changes are largely related to interior design.
Southern University’s VR Jags program, which develops virtual reality technology, will also have a dedicated space in Nexus’ downtown office. Nexus members will gain access to Southern’s hardware labs and equipment as a result of the partnership.
Zanders said the VR Jags’ space in the Nexus headquarters is a “natural evolution” of the partnership with the university.
The VR Jags program has worked with the public sector to create virtual reality courses, such as training programs for emergency readiness and human anatomy visualizations for health care students. Michael Stubblefield, vice chancellor for research and strategic initiatives at Southern, said the extension of the VR program into Nexus’ office will diversify its services and connect students with private-sector opportunities.
Students in the VR Jags program will work with entrepreneurs in Nexus’ orbit and build business acumen, potentially building a pipeline into the workforce with connections made through the business incubator, Stubblefield said.
“One of the great things of having a physical presence at Nexus’ site is that people can see what they’re doing,” Stubblefield said.
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