The basement of the McKinley Towne Centre was the venue for Ann Arbor's Startup Camp. The lower level has been let out to TechArb for the summer of 2009 as a startup incubator space for about a dozen U of Michigan student startups
The location has 29,000 feet of available office space. Once upon a time, it was a food court as part of Tally Hall.
More information
- McKinley Towne Center web site with floor plans
- Subterranean Start-ups: At TechArb, UM student entrepreneurs get free office space, Ann Arbor Chronicle, June 2009
To understand how TechArb ended up with 30,000 square feet of prime downtown office space for free, we start with UM’s RPM-10 program. RPM-10 is an entrepreneur internship program sponsored by the University of Michigan College of Engineering Center for Entrepreneurship and RPM Ventures, an early-stage technology venture capital firm. Now in its second year, the program provides a summer’s worth of funding, mentorship and office space to UM student entrepreneurs. The program lasts approximately 10 weeks – that’s the "10" in the name – and is highly competitive. This year, only three companies were accepted out of 35 that applied.