The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced that it is moving forward with NIOSH’s consolidated research facility in the Uptown Innovation Corridor. Previously, the CDC selected the Corridor as the preferred site for the development, but plans had not been finalized and approved. On Wednesday, August 23, the Senate passed a spending package including funding for the new NIOSH site.
NIOSH’s choice to build a state-of-the-art research facility in the Uptown Innovation Corridor aligns with the Consortium’s vision for the area as a world-class destination for research and medicine. This location puts NIOSH and other businesses at a strategic advantage through increased opportunities for collaboration with the University of Cincinnati, Environmental Protection Agency, hospital systems and other Uptown institutions.
The $110 million facility will be located on a 14-acre site in the northwest quadrant of the Uptown Innovation Corridor at Martin Luther King Drive and Reading Road. The planned research facility will combine 550 employees, including chemists, biologists and engineers, from three existing Cincinnati NIOSH locations.
In May 2018, the CDC issued a design/build request for proposals for the project. The request called for laboratory and office space with a 600-car parking garage. It’s unclear when construction on the project will begin, but previous reports have included a target completion date in 2021.
The project is expected to have a $291.7 million economic impact on Greater Cincinnati in addition to $1.2 million in earnings tax revenue for the City of Cincinnati.
In addition to the NIOSH announcement, the University of Cincinnati recently announced that they will be the first tenant in the Corridor’s Uptown Gateway development by Terrex Development and Construction and Messer Construction. The ‘digital futures’ building will be a place where companies can openly innovate and collaborate with UC, the community, and each other.