Tech hub expansion for CMU in works

BYLINE: Ron DaParma

Carnegie Mellon University scored what is believed to be a national first two years ago by attracting researchers from three technology industry giants -- Intel, Google and Apple -- to the same building, the Collaborative Innovation Center in Oakland.

Now, Carnegie Mellon and the Carnegie Museums are teaming up to repeat that success -- and attract more technology talent to Pittsburgh, officials said.

With corporate, university-related and other operations filling just about every inch of the 128,000 square feet of space in the Collaborative Innovation Center, CMU and the Carnegie Museums are moving full-speed ahead on plans for Collaborative Innovation Center 2 in the same Junction Hollow section of Oakland.

"We're excited," said Ralph Horgan, CMU associate vice provost, this week.

Much like the original building, the $50 million-plus facility is envisioned as a magnet for companies that want to be near the research and academic talent at the university, Horgan said.

It will house Carnegie Mellon's Nanotechnology Commercialization Center, as well as facilities for biomedical engineering and possibly robotics, he said. Gov. Ed Rendell last August awarded a $4 million state grant to support the Nano center.

The 200,000- to 300,000-square-foot structure will sit on a parcel of land owned by the Carnegie Museums located across the hollow and railroad tracks from CIC1. Development plans call for building a pedestrian bridge across the hollow to link the CMU main campus to the museum facilities and the university's other properties in the Craig Street area.

The Carnegie Museums will lease the land to the private developer, who will in turn own the building.

A "short-list" of four developers are vying to build the project, honed from an original list of 20 originally considered, said Bob Reppe, CMU director of design. The four submitted their proposals last week.

Developers involved include the Science & Technology branch of Forest City Enterprises Inc., the Cleveland-based firm whose projects in the city include Liberty Center Downtown; and Liberty Property Trust, a Philadelphia-area company that is developing Comcast Corp.'s $435 million, 57-story headquarters in that city.

Others are Wexford Science & Technology, a Baltimore firm that specializes in the development of science- and technology-related projects; and Ironwood/Ferchill, a partnership of Ironwood Development of Pittsburgh and the Ferchill Co. of Cleveland, the developer of the Bridgeside Point building at the Pittsburgh Technology Center in South Oakland.

CMU and museum officials hope to select a developer early next month. Once a development agreement is reached, it is hoped that the building will be completed in 18 months.

"What companies like Google, Intel, Apple and Seagate have demonstrated is that leading technology companies can benefit from having a Pittsburgh presence, and I see that trend continuing," said Donald Smith, director of economic development for CMU and the University of Pittsburgh.

"We've had many inquiries from companies subsequent to CIC1 becoming filled up, and I feel very strongly there is significant demand for additional technology companies to locate in Pittsburgh," he said.