2/25/03
CONSULTANTS LOOK AT RESEARCH PARK INITIATIVE FOR AU
AUBURN -- Consultants from Maryland and Massachusetts have begun a feasibility study to assess the establishment of a research park on the Auburn University campus.
The report from Sasaki Associates Inc., of Boston, which previously helped develop the university's master plan, and Hammer Siler George Associates of Silver Spring, Md., is due in about three months.
Representatives from the two firms have been on campus, consulting with faculty, deans, local government officials and other university stakeholders.
The consultants say companies prefer to locate in parks within a half-day drive from their home offices. Auburn is within this desired distance from Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery and Columbus, Ga., and it is on Interstate 85 and good four-lane highway systems.
"A research park initiative is based on building linkage between accessibility and resources," said Vernon George of Hammer Siler George. "Auburn really is in a part of a major technology region, and it offers a broad range of attractive assets from culture, to school systems, to housing and other qualities."
Perry Chapman of Sasaki added: "From a planner's perspective, the university offers marvelous potential for location of a research park and for maintaining land use integrity."
The initial phase of a research park development typically involves 50-100 acres, according to the consultants. Other key considerations are the site's close proximity to the main campus and how it fits into the university's planned land use and infrastructure.
They equate the process of establishing a research park as similar to a real estate development -- but more -- in that it complements the mission of the institution. The university's primary investment is in the property that it provides, not in the buildings. Other university assets are its intellectual property, students and faculty and innovative technology research.
Because of the park's economic enhancement potential, local municipalities often make property improvements -- such as road and utility installation -- and assist in marketing the park, the consultants said.
"In most cases, it is the tenant or a private developer who finances building construction, entering into a long-term lease agreement with the university for the property," George said. "Businesses find this kind of arrangement attractive because of the value-added association it provides with the university and its collaborative and intellectual resources."
The consultants' report is to include a business plan that contains a cost-benefit analysis, bench-marked strategies for development stages, park governance, financing and marketing options and site recommendations.
It will be the basis of a report to AU President William F. Walker and the Board of Trustees probably in early summer, said Michael Moriarty, AU's vice president for research.
feb03:AU-researchpark