Collaboratory in Fort Myers Earns LEED GOLD Certification

During the fourth quarter, The Southwest Florida Community Foundation’s Collaboratory achieved LEED GOLD certification using the LEED v4 Building Design + Construction: New Construction rating system. Collaboratory is a publicprivate partnership of the community foundation and the City of Fort Myers.

Located at 2031 Jackson Street, Suite 100 in downtown Fort Myers, the former Atlantic Coast Railway Depot has been transformed, following extensive renovations and the construction of the LEED-certified addition. Rather than raze the old depot, Collaboratory has created a 24,000sf campus that contains the community foundation’s regional headquarters, spaces for work and special events that may be used by the public and tenants, and state-of-the-art technology.

“It’s incredibly exciting to see a project that doesn’t just succeed as a high-performance facility, but also is designed to educate visitors on how they can achieve the same here in Southwest Florida,” said Chris Ressler, president of the Southwest Florida branch of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). “This combination of performance and education is exactly what LEED and the USGBC stand for.”

Since opening in October 2018, more than 1,000 meetings and events have taken place at Collaboratory, and all of its office space has been leased. Tenants include Ecomedes, SWFL Children’s Charities, The Ingenuity Lab, SecondMuse and Captains for Clean Water.

For more information on the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, please visit www.floridacommunity. com or call 239-274-5900.