UNC seeks Carolina North funds; University asks state for $12.2M for site planning, development

BYLINE: Jamie Schuman jschuman@heraldsun.com; 918-1046

CHAPEL HILL -- UNC Chapel Hill is making its first request for state money for site planning and development at Carolina North, bringing the university's proposed satellite campus one step closer to reality.

The university is asking for about $12.2 million, which it would use to plan for a headquarters for the Renaissance Computing Institute and for a facility for business incubator activities at Carolina North. The money also would fund site development -- such as roads, energy needs and other infrastructure items -- for those and other early buildings on the campus.

The request is part of the university system's two-year budget application, which the UNC Board of Governors will review this week and which the state Legislature would decide on in its 2007 session.

The General Assembly may not approve the Carolina North bid this session, as the university system has about 20 other capital priorities ahead of it, said Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor for research and economic development at UNC Chapel Hill.

"Being realistic, there are so many things in front of it that it's not likely we would get it this time," Waldrop said.

"We can always hope for a Christmas present, though," he said.

Other priorities

In the budget request, which is for 2007-2009, UNC Chapel Hill has two capital priorities ahead of Carolina North: about $120 million for a Genomic Sciences Building and $96 million for a School of Dentistry building.

Still, the Carolina North request is a way for UNC to get its foot in the state-house door, as it sometimes takes "a few years" to get requests approved, Waldrop said.

Although the Legislature is reviewing the request in 2007, the Carolina North money would be for 2008-09, not next year. That time line coincides with the UNC Board of Trustees deadline of October 2007 for the university to submit development applications for Carolina North.

Initial site development would not start before the towns review thedevelopment application or before a community advisory committee that is writing goals for Carolina North issues its report, Waldrop said.

Carolina North, which would be off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, is a UNC satellite campus that would mix research, academic and residential space.

Computer collaboration

Some of the money in the first budget request would be to plan for a 220,000 square-foot headquarters for the Renaissance Computing Institute, or RENCI. A collaboration among UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, N.C. State and the state of North Carolina, RENCI uses technology and other resources to provide research innovation and economic advancement for the state and elsewhere.

RENCI has officials throughout the state, but leases central space at the Europa Center in Chapel Hill. The building at Carolina North would be a hub for RENCI, and would include offices, conference rooms, computer laboratories and biology and nanomaterials facilities.

Such space would be useful, as RENCI's mission connects with the work UNC officials envision would occur at Carolina North, RENCI spokeswoman Karen Green said.

Plus, the site would give RENCI a true, permanent headquarters, Green said.

"When you're in this creative, collaborative type field it's very important," she said.

Other than the RENCI and incubator sites, the budget proposal does not indicate what other early buildings would go on Carolina North.

Although the money could pay for infrastructure needed at other early buildings, it is premature to determine exactly what those buildings would be, Waldrop said. While the money would not pay for construction of the buildings, it could cover land alterations needed to put roads on the campus, he added.