Recently, DHI Member Mission Multiplier celebrated the Grand Opening of their new headquarters at Lincoln Mill Office Campus. Serving as one of the “anchors” of the Lincoln Mill District just north of the Downtown Core, the office campus is quickly becoming a priority destination for innovation-centric companies like Mission Multiplier.
Some may not have likely envisioned Lincoln Mill evolving into a technology office campus when it originally opened at the turn of the 20th century. The now 100 plus year-old mill eventually became the largest cotton mill in Alabama during the early 1900s. That’s exactly what happened, though, in the 1950s when local business leaders purchased the mill and converted it into the Huntsville Industrial Complex.
Known as the HIC Building then, the conversion was designed to attract the Army missile command and Dr. Werner von Braun and his team to Huntsville. It soon became a hub of technology research with companies like Boeing and Brown Engineering opening offices in the HIC Building. Eventually, both the Army and many of the contractors relocated to Redstone Arsenal leaving the HIC Building increasingly empty despite its extensive retrofit from a cotton mill to a technology campus.
In 2008, the current ownership group undertook an effort to revitalize and rebrand the facility as the Lincoln Mill Office Campus. Today, a new generation of innovators call Lincoln Mill home with companies like Engenius Micro, Noetic Strategies, Bangham Engineering, and SkyTap among others.
Many of the modern cadre of companies are drawn to the fact that Lincoln Mill is uniquely situated as a HUBZone less than a mile from the Downtown Core (and connected by bike lanes to the northside of Downtown).
In addition to the technology companies, other innovators like DesignLab and Metropolitan DJ have opened unique new spaces in the mill. The convenient city center location and growing number of creative destinations like Preservation Co. Holtz Leather Co. and Mad Malts Brewing nearby make Lincoln Mill a compelling destination for innovators looking to open space in the Rocket City Center.
Especially interesting is the “still to be renovated” Dye House portion of the campus. With high ceilings, expansive windows revealing extensive natural light and unique industrial-era features, the Dye House offers many flexible opportunities including the possibility of serving as home for quirky “destination retail” space. Whether it’s a brewery, distillery, entertainment or other use, the Dye House is one of the most interesting remaining spaces to be re-purposed in the Downtown Huntsville area.