Taxpayer tab at Kannapolis to be millions; A big bill is in the offing as a huge UNC biotech campus goes up at shuttered Pillowtex site
BYLINE: Jane Stancill, Staff Writer
An enormous central lab is taking shape on the site of the old Pillowtex textile mill in Kannapolis, and so is the extent of initial state taxpayer costs at the biotech campus of billionaire David Murdock.
By 2010-11, the University of North Carolina system will be asking the General Assembly for $29 million a year to pay for its participation in the N.C. Research Campus, according to a draft of legal agreements obtained by The News & Observer. The university wants $26 million from the state next year for the venture, with roughly half of that spent on new equipment.
The operating money would go toward salaries for an estimated 75 new faculty positions, as well as lease payments for three research buildings to be used by UNC campuses. At the end of 20 years, the buildings would become the property of either the university or the state, according to the agreement.
That document awaits the signatures of Murdock, owner of Dole Food, and UNC President Erskine Bowles, who told members of the UNC Board of Governors recently: "We're not spending everything ... [Murdock] would like us to spend, but we're spending a gracious plenty."
The money, of course, is contingent on what the legislature decides. This year, the legislature set aside $6 million to jump-start the project even though Gov. Mike Easley did not include it in his budget. The cash has not yet been spent, pending a final agreement between the university and Murdock's development company, Castle & Cooke.
Negotiations between the two have been under way for months.
Murdock has promised to spend about $1 billion of his own money to develop the public-private research campus on 350 acres, including high-end equipment for the core laboratory and as much as $200 million for a venture capital fund to attract companies to the campus.
Scientists from universities around the state are expected to bring their expertise to Kannapolis to zero in on biotechnology products and processes that could lead to better health. Major partners include Duke University, which will focus on practical medical advances from basic science discoveries; N.C. State's Institute for Fruit and Vegetable Science; and UNC-Chapel Hill's Institute for Excellence in Nutrition.
North Carolina A&T, N.C. Central, UNC-Charlotte and UNC-Greensboro also will be involved.
Another major component of the Kannapolis project is a training center run by the N.C. Community College system to prepare workers for what Murdock contends will be thousands of new biotech jobs there.
So far, only two companies have announced plans to move there, but Clyde Higgs, Castle & Cooke's vice president of business development, said he has received nearly 60 business plans from companies seeking venture capital for business in medical devices, information technology and drug development.
"It's been brisk," he said.
The draft agreement spells out a variety of legal details, including a provision that UNC will retain control of its own research and inventions at the rising biotechnology complex near Charlotte. There will also be joint projects between business and academia, and some of that research probably would be jointly owned.
The question of who controls intellectual property is often a major sticking point in university-corporate marriages. Earlier this year, UNC-CH and N.C. State passed on a deal with a California biomedical engineering entrepreneur over disagreements about who would control inventions.
The Kannapolis paperwork was due to be signed last month, but the complicated deal has taken longer than expected, said Jeff Davies, chief of staff at the UNC system. "We are both plowing new ground, and both want to make sure we're doing it appropriately," he said.
Defining strategy
Next week, NCSU scientists will meet to map out their strategy for the campus, including the development of more nutritious fruits and vegetables. The focus is likely to be blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and leafy vegetables, said Steve Leath, associate dean and director of research for NCSU's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Murdock is acquiring bells and whistles that may alter those research possibilities. In August, he announced the purchase of a superconducting magnet that is said to be one of a kind. According to the manufacturer of the two-story, eight-ton machine, it can allow scientists to clearly see and analyze the three-dimensional structure of molecules.
"He's buying some equipment that not only do we not have, but as a public university, we couldn't afford," Leath said.
The scientists have been wowed by Murdock's no-expenses-spared approach. The Georgian architecture on campus involved teams of architects and details such as marble floors, Leath said. "It's a very different experience for most of us, and we're excited to be a part of it."
NCSU agricultural researchers hope to work closely with medical experts from UNC-CH to pump up the nutritional value of foods and then test them.
"We're hoping it's going to be a two-way street," Leath said. "No one is doing that in the whole country."