OUR PURPOSE

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. 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) 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.

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.