USC’s proposed research campus took another step toward reality Friday with approval by the USC Development Foundation for USC officials to begin negotiating with a Cary, N.C., firm on the research campus’ development.
With President Sorensen’s recommendation, the foundation authorized the formation of a committee to begin discussions with Craig Davis Properties Inc., the firm that partnered with N.C. State University to develop their Centennial Campus in Raleigh.
Sorensen, who has made a 5-million-square-foot research campus the centerpiece of his initiatives, said he is confident that the Davis firm will provide the guidance that USC requires to make the campus a reality.
“Making this research campus a reality will require vision and leadership, and today we have passed another milestone toward that goal,” Sorensen said. “In choosing to work with Craig Davis Properties, we have selected one of the nation’s premier development corporations, and I am confident that they will advise and guide us in this process.”
The first phase of USC’s research campus will include about 420,000 square feet and four buildings, two of which are for the Arnold School of Public Health. Funding for these two buildings, estimated at $26.5 million, already has been secured, Sorensen said.
The other two research facilities, totaling about 200,000 square feet, will be built on the block across from the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center. That block includes the site of a former Hardee’s Restaurant and is bounded by Assembly, Blossom, Wheat, and South Main streets.
Discussions with the Davis firm will focus on this property.
Sorensen has said that he hopes the costs of these two buildings, estimated at $30 million, will be funded partly by private, high-tech companies seeking to locate in Columbia.
In August, USC’s officials sent out requests for proposals to development firms with experience in building large business and research complexes. Criteria also included a firm that can build private housing and parking structures. Craig Davis Properties was one of eight firms that responded. The Davis firm also will associate with Columbia-based Edens & Avant, a commercial real estate company.
Plans call for the development firm to build and operate the facilities and then lease space to the university and to private companies.
09/04
|
