NBRR Founder and Executive Director, Mark Parsons isn’t surprised by how far NBRR has come since 2021 when he was a one-man operation working out of his home in New Bedford’s West End. That’s because the concept of creating an “ecosystem,” bringing entrepreneurs, industry R&D, academics, students, creatives and the community together is something he’d already done successfully in New York. When Parsons, a Southcoast native, decided to return to the area with his family, he knew New Bedford was where he wanted to bring his robotics innovation lab. To do that though, he needed to find the right space–one that would showcase NBRR, one that would engage the community, and one that would activate a neighborhood and contribute to New Bedford’s future.
After 4 years of searching, Parsons found 1265 Purchase Street, once home to a legacy family business, Glaser Glass. The site had everything Parsons was looking for: adjacency to New Bedford’s downtown and its working seaport, highway and rail access and most importantly, a prominent street-level presence to engage the community, cultivate curiosity and help propel Purchase Street as the city’s “Innovation Avenue.”
The property is expansive at 33,000 sq ft and comprises 4 structures, including 3 industrial buildings and a 19th century home. But what drew Parsons from the start was the garage bay doors lining the street, windows he knew could give the public a front row seat to what was happening inside. And that was important, because it communicated to passersby that this would be a collective space where people could come to learn, to experiment, to make and to envision their potential. “Everybody from New Bedford knows the building. As a young carpenter, Glaser was the go-to for replacement glass in the area, so it’s where I always went for windshields for my pick-up. It’s a legacy site for so many locals, and I hope what NBRR’s is doing with the property will have that kind of generational impact on the community as well.”
As its new steward, Parsons has answered the clarion call to transform the site and give the landmark property the make-over it deserves. Accomplishing that, he would soon learn, would require collaboration—a tenet of the NBRR ethos—and a healthy dose of patience. Transforming a 20th century industrial site into a state-of-the robotics innovation campus takes vision and problem solving along the way. It helps to have a community of support built from the many relationships Parsons has cultivated over the years. That was evidenced by the crowd, including neighbors, friends, business owners and members of local and state government, who showed up for the project’s ribbon cutting. “It was an opportunity to share the work NBRR was already doing with state and city representatives and help them envision the growth and impact potential for programming in the new building.” It was clear that the community was not only excited to hear Parsons’ vision for the space but it was ready for the transformation to get underway. And so it has.
In the winter of 2025, renovations began. Upgrades to the 19th century home abutting Purchase Street were completed in the spring and include offices for start-ups and researchers, maker space and housing for NBRR’s residence program for artists and designers. Now that the engineering studies have concluded, construction has begun on the main industrial building, which will house technology and prototyping labs, offices and suites for workforce and business development as well as innovation and learning spaces.
Once completed, the facility will help support New Bedford’s goal to become a regional innovation hub with NBRR focusing on robotics, climate and renewable research, STEAM education, blue tech and frontier technologies.
When he thinks about how much has happened in the past 4 years since he launched NBRR from his living room–4 buildings coming on line and over 50 staff, intern and start-up jobs created—Parsons acknowledges the progress. Yet he knows things are just getting started, and the exciting part is still to come. “Everything we’re doing today is in preparation for tomorrow. That began by building trust locally and value regionally. And with our move into this new building, I know NBRR can advance the innovation ecosystem in New Bedford and Massachusetts exponentially.”
