Tucson: - UA Bioscience Park Project Receives $4.7MM

$4.7M grant gets the ball rolling on UA's BioPark

By Joe Pangburn, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, September 04, 2009

With a new $4.7 million grant in federal stimulus month, work is set to get started on the University of Arizona’s Bioscience Park turning 65 acres of vacant land to development-ready status.

The Economic Development Administration announced the grant last week. It will fund critical on-site infrastructure improvements at the BioPark including roads, water systems, utilities and telecommunications. It will also include perimeter landscaping of the site at the southwest corner of Kino Parkway and 36th Street.

“This funding will provide the basic spine infrastructure and the infrastructure for the southern six parcels only, it does not apply to the infrastructure to the northern four parcels,” said Bruce Wright associate vice president for research parks at the UA. “However the spine infrastructure will allow us to activate them at any time.”

This is the updated and approved master land use plan for the University of Arizona Bioscience Park at 36th Street and Kino Parkway. The $4.7 million grant will provide the infrastructure to the six southern parcels of the park as well as the “spine” infrastructure in the middle of the park. Bruce Wright, the associate vice president for university research parks at the UA said this grant will bring the park to “development-ready status.”

The southern six parcels include five research and development pads and one parcel slated for a hotel.

Pima County completed flood plain work on the site earlier this year and the Arizona Board of Regents approved the master land use plan for the park in June. Over the past few weeks, the pace has started to quicken:

• Three weeks ago, a request for qualifications was sent out nationally looking for a development partner for the commercial buildings in the park. Submissions for that are due Sept. 18.

• Two weeks ago a pre-submittal conference was held for companies to learn what the UA is looking for.

• Last week there was a follow-up phone conference with more than 90 companies interested in submitting.

“We’ve had just an overwhelming interest in this project which is great considering where the economy is right now,” Wright said.

The string attached to the federal grant money, as with all money coming from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is that construction must begin within 120 days of the announced award. So the university will be hiring a general contractor and expects to start construction in November.

By then UA officials hope to have selected a development partner and get an agreement signed by Jan. 1.



The improvements should be complete by December 2010 with construction of the commercial portions of the park to begin in mid- to late-2010.

“We would actually be able to begin soliciting for tenants in early 2010 as well and could be constructing the space specifically for them later in the year,” Wright said.

Already almost every major hotel chain has contacted Wright to find out what they need to do to be considered for what is being planned as a 300-room hotel.

Wright also said his office has received an unsolicited proposal from a developer for the housing portion of the project.

“No deal has been struck and I cannot say who they are, but we are looking at their proposal,” Wright said. “They are very capable of doing an outstanding job with it.”

The Bioscience Park is part of a 357-acre, mixed-use development called The Bridges, which will include retail and residential development. As with the home building industry in general, the residential portion of the project is on hold in the current economy. But at least a portion of the retail development is seeing life.

Costco Wholesale, one of the major tenants in The Bridges, received its liquor license from the City of Tucson this month.

“As of right now things are moving forward,” said Costco’s Vice President of Operations Ron Vachris. “We are looking at a February or March opening, so construction would begin about five months before that, around November 2010.”

Vachris said this Costco would have an expanded deli and perishable food section but otherwise be similar to the company’s other two stores in the market.

“It always takes one to two years of planning to bring these projects online,” Wright said. “I think many companies are thinking by mid 2011 and 2012 things will be improved dramatically and they are excited to get involved in this project.”

Contact reporter Joe Pangburn at jpangburn@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4259.