[new_royalslider id=”89″]A life science industry group received an update Tuesday Health Sciences Complex at the University STAR Campus.
The site on the south end of the former Chrysler property was the focus of a breakfast meeting Wednesday morning of of the Delaware BioScience Association.
Kathleen S. Matt, dean of the College of Health Sciences, said the complex at the site of the administration building for the assembly plant is a “game changer,” as it integrates laboratories, classrooms and start-up health sciences companies.
She said interest in the building by potential students is strong, no small issue as UD works to attract nursing and other health sciences enrollees. The building is now in operation and includes the UD physical therapy program as well as the Bader Consortium, a national group that works to find mobility solutions for wounded veterans.
The college and the complex received a major boost with $20 million in National of Institutes of Health funding for medical research. That grant is supplemented by state and funding from other sources. Ernest Delle Donne, developer of the public-private project, emphasized that the first phase of the STAR campus occupies only 15 of the 270 acres
That small amount of space offers the most flexibility of any commercial real estate development in northern Delaware, Delle Donne said. He added, however, that the goal of the project is to bring life science companies and technology jobs to the state. A business incubator at the site is slated to open in July for star-up companies, DelleDonne said.
Also being sought is a grant that would bring “wet lab” space to the site. The lab space is virtually non-existent in the state and takes more than a year to find elsewhere.
During the question and answer period, the issue of the proposed Data Centers project was brought up. Matt said the university has organized a committee to look into the issues surrounding the $1.1 billion project that would include a natural gas power plant.
The Data Centers site proposed for a portion of the 270-acre site and has drawn fire from neighbors and environmental activists.
At the end of the meeting, one opponent held a No Power Plant sign from the inside of his vehicle on the edge of the UD health sciences parking lot on Wednesday.
