Mayor Bowser officially breaks ground on Howard University incubator

Almost exactly one year after announcing the initiative, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Howard University leaders officially broke ground on the forthcoming Inclusive Innovation Incubator.
There were hard hats and everything.

I’m so excited to be a part of creating opportunities for our DC entrepreneurs. #HowardHub #DCTech #DCProud pic.twitter.com/zsvdoSLy0o

— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) March 8, 2016

A large crowd gathered in the unfinished space at 2301 Georgia Ave. to hear Bowser, Howard Provost Dr. Anthony K. Wutoh and Luma Lab founder Aaron Saunders speak.  Luma Lab, you may recall, will be operating the space.
The Mayor’s speech was almost like a warm up for SXSW, where she’ll be this weekend. She touted D.C.’s strong tech sector as well as the sector’s potential for growth — rounds of applause wound through the crowed as she cited the city’s record in supporting women and people of color in tech. The city-backed Howard University incubator, she said, will only serve to augment this strength further.
We didn’t learn much at the event that hasn’t already been written about — but we did hear that Wingate Hughes, a D.C.-based architecture firm that designs a lot of offices for area startups, will be designing the space. Project designer Ashley Swann told Technical.ly she’s excited to “be a part of bringing this technology hub and this community to Howard University.” She said she envisions an open, welcoming and “inspiring” design for the Hub — but no word yet on the timeline for opening.
Want to see behind the scenes at the new hub and get a feel for the space?
Lucky for you, we put together a little Snapchat story about the event. In it you’ll see the space, watch the Mayor speak and even get a glimpse of the ceremonial digging (note: our sincere apologies to Luma Lab for the typo in their name — we only noticed this once it was too late to edit).
Watch below: