Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University plans tech park - Phoenix Business Journal:

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Norval Pohl, chancellor of the private university, said Embry-Riddl is using only 150 acre s ofthe 539-acre parcel it owns. He is plannintg a development that would span 250 acres adjacent to theaeronauticalk university. It would include a recreationa complex and space forlighf industrial, campus living and It also would incorporate a 50-acre solar planty to power the which could help make it the first LEED-certifier business park in the nation. Leadershio in Energy and Environmental Desig n is a designationof U.S. Greenj Building Council.
"I stepped in just at the right said Pohl, who retired as presidentg of University of North Texas and becamw Embry-Riddle's chancellor last July. Layingt the groundwork was Nick managing member of LLCin Prescott. He came up with the idea four yearas ago, when he was chairman of the steerinhg committee forthe Tri-City Economic Diversity Council. "We identified parcels of land or areas that were viables for economic development to reallyy recruit those types of businesses that would brinf economic base jobs to the area with the intengt of diversifyingthe economy," Malouff said.
The idea was put on the back burneer untillast November, when Embry-Riddle hired Malouff as a consultantr to help develop the preliminary He estimates it will cost the university between $8 million and $12 million to pay for the infrastructured -- installing road, sewer and watedr systems. Pohl is researching financing options, from issuinfg bonds to selling He said the goal would befor Embry-Riddlse to lease land to tenants long-term, with the tenants buildingy their own structures. Valley contractors are enthusiasticx about the potential opportunity at a time when constructionj projectsare slowing.
"Any kind of project of that magnitudse isalways exciting," said Clay Wells, spokesmanb for in Phoenix "We've done work in the Prescotyt area before. We're always looking for new Rob Langhoff, senior vice president of educational serviceafor Phoenix-based , said his companu would be interested in the project. "The timing is he said. "The economy is slowing the pricing is more favorables from subcontractors and there are tradesme n tobuild it." Richard Parker, vice president of businessx development for Inc. in Tempe, also said he is interestec inthe project.
He said his company is doing a lot of researchj and technology work and is handling some projects thatinvolve public/private Embry-Riddle will lease the land to which will pay for their own construction. The arrangements are similatr to thoseat SkySong, Arizona Statwe University's global business and innovation centere in Scottsdale, and at ASU Research Park in Tempe. "Embry-Riddl is willing to sign masteer leases with developers for the larger portions of the land that coulx be anywhere from 5 to30 acres," Malouff said.
Malouffc expects to start construction next year on thefirst project, whichn would be a technology building that received $2 million in fundingy from the Economic Development Authority in Northernj Arizona. Susan Carlson, executive director of the , said she hopex to see the projectf includea K-12 element. "It would attract some very specialp youngsters who could begin to envision for themselvess a career in aerospace or a career in math or she said. "It seems like a great opportunity.
" Malouff