Density formally opens manufacturing facility in downtown Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Density, Inc., a tenant of the Syracuse Tech Garden, on Tuesday opened its new 21,000-square-foot manufacturing facility inside the Whitlock building at 550 S. Clinton St. in Syracuse.

Density describes itself as an analytics platform for measuring and optimizing workplace performance. Density’s technology allows for anonymous measurement of how people use space, “creating better workplace experiences,” per a news release.

The company discovered the Whitlock building in the spring of 2020 as it was searching for Density’s future home in upstate New York, Garrett Bastable, VP of operations at Density, said in his remarks at the Tuesday event.

The South Clinton Street building is located near the Salt City Market.

“Though it was [in] mid-construction at the time, we saw great promise in the Whitlock building, thanks to the vision and substantial investments made by Tom and Ryan Goodfellow of Goodfellow Construction Management,” Bastable said.

Two years later, the firm is operating in the same building.

In addition to expanding its production capabilities by seven times to nearly 400,000 sensors per year. Density foresees housing its future offices, labs, warehouse, shipping, and receiving centers all within the downtown Syracuse building.

“Amazingly, with solar on the roof above us, Density’s sensor production will be powered by the sun,” Bastable said in his remarks.

The product that Density employees will research, design, develop, build, and ship from this facility will reach customers around the world. The company is already shipping tens of thousands of devices to more than 40 countries, he noted.

Since launching in 2014, Density has raised more than $225 million in funds from investors and is now valued at $1.05 billion, a figure that Bastable called “staggering.” It makes Density the “first home grown unicorn in Syracuse.” In business, a unicorn is a privately held business valued at more than $1 billion.

The business now has nearly 200 employees across 29 states and eight countries. Even though it is headquartered in San Francisco, Bastable called Syracuse Density’s “hometown.” He said Tuesday’s opening of the manufacturing facility represents the firm’s effort “to embark on our next stage of growth in the same city [where] it all started.”