It’s big, it’s tall and it has a hefty price tag.
The University of South Florida is taking preliminary steps toward building a new, seven-story research facility on its Tampa campus. It’s estimated to cost over $200 million.
The proposed Translational Research Institute would focus on internal research rather than research by outside biotech companies. It will house about 100 National Institutes of Health-funded investigators and about 1,000 other researchers.
“It's the future state of research for the university,” said Carole Post, USF’s vice president of facilities at a meeting of the Board of Trustees Finance Committee on Wednesday. “We know how much emphasis there has been on that.”
USF president Rhea Law said the building is one key to the goal of enhancing the university’s research enterprise.
"We have a very bold and aggressive plan to enhance the numbers of our research,” Law said. “The one way we can do that is with the proper facilities to support it. So this is a part of that plan."
USF became part of the Association of American Universities last year, which should mean additional federal funds for research projects like this.
The building is now at the top of USF's state funding priorities list. A planned oceanographic building on the USF St. Petersburg campus has been moved down to number two. A STEM nursing facility now sits third on the priority list. The proposal has it being built on the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus.
The new proposal was approved by the committee, but USF officials emphasize this plan is "very very preliminary."
If approved, the building would be constructed on a currently empty lot on the northwest side of the Tampa campus, at the corner of USF Holly and USF Magnolia.
