Mike Kaltschnee still marvels at the 3D printer tucked away in the corner of a room that his Danbury Hackerspace was able to acquire for $150, a fraction of the thousands of dollars machines cost in the early days of 3D printing.
As for the price of the room housing that machine and more like it? A dollar a year — and that rent covers three entire floors in Danbury that will be crammed with sophisticated tools and studios for public use, all of it underwritten by nearly 200 apartments on the upper levels generating rent from people interested in the “live, work, play” concept for urban living.
In an emerging twist on the startup accelerator model, a Danbury hotel is being converted into apartments by a prominent local developer — with sections of the building set aside for entrepreneurs looking to crank out inventions and product prototypes, as well as artists and…
