Construction begins on $20M research facility
BYLINE: Kathryn Fiegen
Iowa City Press-Citizen
Construction began Monday on a $20 million research facility in Coralville that, when complete, is expected to spur economic development and job growth in technology and science in the area.
The 90,000-square-foot facility is the result of a partnership among the University of Iowa, Ryan Companies US Inc. and the National Genecular Institute. It will be in the Oakdale Research Park in Coralville, across from the future new UI Hygienics Lab, and is expected to be complete in May 2008.
"Today, we are celebrating what is possible when we work together as a community," Meredith Hay, UI vice president for research, said at a groundbreaking ceremony.
Ryan Companies will own the building and sublease the space to the university and NGI, who each will have their own wing.
The university will sublease the 20 wet labs and 16 dry labs to start-up companies at $35 per square foot and about $16 per square foot, respectively. The new facility will be called the Bioventures Center.
The goal is that the new companies will become permanent fixtures in Oakdale Research Park, Hay said. For the start-ups, nothing is better "then to have a mature business right next door," she said, referring to NGI.
There is room for about 15 to 20 companies in the UI portion of the facility, depending on the amount of space required by each. The flexibility and wet lab space are new for the university, Hay said.
NGI, headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., will use its space to do research in what it calls "customized medicine" through work in genetics pharmacogenomics, molecular cell biology, laser optics and federally-approved stem cell research.
Tannin Fuja, NGI's chief scientific officer, said the area became the preferred site in part because of the Iowa Legislature's lift of the ban on stem-cell research -- opening doors to more effective research and care of diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimers and multiple sclerosis.
"And for that, we thank you and we thank the state of Iowa," Fuja said.
Because of the innovative research expected out of the facility and the projected 180 new jobs in the next three years, many state and local incentives were given to the project. The Iowa Department of Economic Development gave NGI $655,000 in direct state assistance and grants and $1.1 million in state community college job training assistance. Coralville pledged $800,000 in tax increment financing. State economic development funds also will help build the Bioventures Center.
Many of the area's congressional representatives attended the groundbreaking, and they noted that the time was right for initiatives in both economic development and higher education. Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, and Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, were there.
"This is only the beginning," Loebsack said.
In the future, NGI plans to purchase 3.86 acres of land in Iowa City to create a BioTrust facility, to be one of the largest genetic and cellular repositories in the country. In October, the Iowa City Council approved $1.2 million in tax increment financing for the project.