Tech-Transfer Facility at the U. of Utah Looks Pricey, Might Move

The fate of a $130-million technology-transfer facility at the University of Utah is up in the air, thanks in part to rising construction costs, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

The Utah Science, Technology, and Research initiative, known as USTAR, was to be built on a golf course near the university campus, but the program’s governing board is considering other sites that would give taxpayers more bang for the buck. One site under consideration could anchor a new campus.

The notion of moving the tech-transfer facility away from the university strikes some as counterproductive.

“Part of the magic of USTAR is not just the people we bring in, but it’s the work they do with the faculty we already have,” Jack Brittain, dean of the university’s school of business, told the Tribune.. “To achieve the multiplier effect . . . you need that proximity. If you move them away, you lose all that leverage.”

Some say that adding utilities and other services to the golf-course site is raising the cost of the project. Others argue that the cost of construction is high — particularly in building the facility’s nanofabrication lab, which is expected to cost $1,100 per square foot.