Tenants are knocking, but Centennial is out of space

RALEIGH - Just as North Carolina State University's Centennial Campus is garnering national accolades, the research park has run out of building space, which limits its ability to sign new corporate tenants and take advantage of the attention.

In October, the Association of University Research Parks named Centennial Campus the year's outstanding research science park. NCSU was hoping to trade on that publicity, taking out ads in The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

But of the nearly 688,000 square feet of lab and office space available for corporations to rent, more than 99 percent is leased, according to Triangle Business Journal's quarterly SPACE survey.

And no new space is coming on line soon. Ground has yet to be broken on the next two projects slated to add space, the Alliance Center buildings on the main Centennial Campus and a lab building on the Centennial Biomedical Campus near the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine.

David Winwood, associate vice chancellor for technology, development and innovation, says Centennial enjoys a "steady and sustained" interest from potential corporate partners. "It would be nice if we had a building to show them," he says. "I wish we were under construction now."

Work on the planned lab and office space at Centennial Biomedical Campus, which is targeted toward life science or medical device companies, probably will start in the summer or fall, says Tom Huff, a project manager with Capital Associates, which has the ground lease for the building.

Huff says the university is currently moving a road on the campus to accommodate the office building as well as the new Randall B. Terry Jr. Companion Animal Veterinary Medical Center.

Plans for the office building also have to go through the normal site review process with the city of Raleigh, he says. "They always throw a few surprises at us."

As for the Alliance Center building on Centennial Campus, despite Craig Davis Properties selection as the developer in 2004, the grassy, 5.7-acre lot across from Red Hat's corporate headquarters still sits untouched.

Jack Dunn, president of Craig Davis Properties, says the company had been waiting for Centennial Campus space to lease up before moving forward. That didn't happen until the first quarter of 2007, according to the TBJ's SPACE survey.

Now, says Bob Fraser, associate vice chancellor for Centennial Campus Development, the university is trying to hammer out a ground lease with Craig Davis Properties.

The university still has the ability to select another developer, Fraser says.

Craig Davis Properties also has been delayed as it resolved a dispute at the North Shore residential development on Centennial Campus, says John Gilligan, vice chancellor for research and graduate studies at NCSU.

A legal battle between Craig Davis Properties and Comstock Homes of Reston, Va., tied up the North Shore development for years. In April, the two parties settled their lawsuit, Comstock sold its interest in the 15-acre project and transferred control to Craig Davis.

That settlement should clear the way for negotiations, Gilligan says. The scope of the Alliance Center project has not been finalized, says Gilligan. Two large office buildings could fit in the space - or three smaller buildings. With each new building, developers are required to add parking, Gilligan says.

He adds: "I would like to get those buildings up as soon as possible."