The Owners
The UNIVERSITY FINANCING FOUNDATION
The University Financing Foundation, known simply as “TUFF,” is a national non-profit developer whose core mission is providing facilities and equipment to institutions of education and research at below the cost of market. TUFF was founded in Atlanta, GA, in 1982, and celebrates 40 years of developing, financing, owning, and operating knowledge communities across the United States. TUFF has deep experience in the cultivation of ecosystems that match university and research institutions with government and private industry collaborators.
After developing a portion of Atlanta’s Tech Square along with Georgia Tech and two private developers, Gateway Development and Kim King Associates, TUFF has operated the well-known innovation district for 20 years. Along with Collaborative Real Estate, TUFF owns and operates many innovation-focused properties, including Centergy, Tech Square Research Building, Bridgeside, and 250 East Ponce.
TUFF fulfills the core mission of supporting education and research by actively building communities, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and nurturing and accelerating the ideas, innovators, and supporters who strive to make the world a better place.
COLLABORATIVE REAL ESTATE
Collaborative Real Estate (Collaborative) is a full-service real estate firm specializing in knowledge-based real estate and university research parks. With their expertise in development, asset/property management/engineering, and community activation, they have great insight into world-class technical building operations, as well as strategies for enhancing user engagement within office and academic facilities.
Their principals have developed over 3 million square feet of office and mixed-use space, managed over 30 million square feet of real estate, completed over $1 billion in negotiated real estate transactions, and have successfully executed projects throughout the United States. Presently, Collaborative manages approximately 1.5 million square feet of Class-A office and research facilities, primarily in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States.
They are experienced in the day-to-day maintenance, property management, asset management, and community activation of university-anchored medical, research, and lab facilities across the Southeast and the Midwest, and their specialization was born out of recognition that instead of the bricks-and-mortar, the true value of these places stem from the people and discoveries.
Their core team of specialized managers and engineers have decades of experience instilling their knowledge and expertise across their portfolio’s onsite personnel, cultivating working relationships with essential stakeholders on the ground to ensure their projects are operated and maintained at the highest standards. Continuously going above and beyond to ensure the asset is maintained efficiently and exceeds industry standards, Collaborative’s specialization was born out of recognition that instead of the bricks-and-mortar, the true value of these places stem from the people and discoveries. They manage properties by creating programs to harness that value and establish a pervasive culture of curiosity, intellectual sharing, and group interaction. Their proprietary methodology includes:
Defining and developing community culture
Identifying and understanding customers/tenants
Assessing the collaboration amongst players within the ecosystem
Developing connections and facilitating networking to improve that level of real collaboration
THE TEAM
Neema Tavakolian, Communications Journalist & Digital Channel Publisher
With a passion for storytelling and a keen eye for impactful narratives, Neema crafts content that showcases Tech Square's achievements and collaborative culture. He highlights the people, ideas, and companies driving change in Atlanta’s tech scene through engaging articles, interviews, and event coverage. Neema has an educational background in marine science and natural resource management and focuses on science communication and digital media. He has previously worked for interdisciplinary organizations like the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Vienna, Austria.
Mike DiCenso, Innovation Ecosystem Relationship Manager
After starting his career as an industrial engineer for Fortune 100 companies, Mikey jumped into the startup world, founding two companies. He found passion in enabling innovators and went on to spend time in roles educating and equipping founders from a Kentucky state-funded entrepreneurial support organization, funding them from a multi-family office, and guiding their fundraising efforts from an accelerator. Mikey looks to utilize his passion for enabling innovators while building an ecosystem within Collaborative Real Estate properties and the communities they're in.
Vicky Fowler, TSQATL Clubhouse Manager
Overseeing The Clubhouse and all its activities, Vicky is an extroverted and people-oriented professional, making her a great fit for this role. As a strong relationship-builder, Vicky focuses on coordinating public and private community events, managing student groups, and serving as the liaison between vendors and the space.
Elena Forchielli, Innovation Ecosystem Relationship Manager
In 2022, Elena earned a PhD in Molecular, Cellular Biology and Biochemistry from Boston University. Her graduate work focused on building an experimental-computational system to examine the impact of marine bacteria on global-scale biogeochemical models. In addition to her direct scientific experience, she has worked in private equity serving growth-stage companies, acted as a consultant to life science firms, and even co-founded an event production company serving a women’s cycling community. Most recently, Elena worked with a nonprofit organization to grow a global geo-biotechnology ecosystem focused on applying technical innovation and market-based solutions to the mining industry. At Collaborative Real Estate, Elena’s primary focus is on building relationships and developing programming to serve the academic research ecosystem in Atlanta.