A new 420 acre tech community broke ground in the City of Alachua

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ALACHUA, Fla. (WCJB) - Concept Companies and The Roberts Company broke ground on the 420 acre development called The Convergence. This is another addition to the tech industry coming to the City of Alachua.

Brian Crawford the CEO of Concept Companies explains the goal for the community.

“Our goal is create a collaborative community where people can come together and work on their projects, live in the same place and really do extraordinary things extraordinary science without sacrificing lifestyle.”

Their idea is that residents and employees in biotech companies can use new state of the art laboratories to research, find cures and therapies to diseases around the world.

The development will have a mixture of homes, a vibrant town center and a technology hub.

“We’re estimating approximately a thousand households and as much as three thousand square feet of commercial space. That commercial space is mixed use so there’s predominately research type space but also community type space so retail and fitness centers,” said Crawford.

Rock band Sister Hazel performed a free concert at the groundbreaking and Corey Yates said when he found out they were coming he couldn’t miss the opportunity.

“I had the opportunity tonight and they’re from this area so why not. I haven’t been to a concert in like five years so let’s go have a fun night.”

Some of the labs are expected to be completed by this fall.

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