HERSHEY, PA-Towson, MD-based Wexford Science & Technology begins work on the opening phase of Hershey Center for Applied Research. It will be an 80,000-sf research facility and infrastructure development for an additional two same-size buildings.

These will occupy a 25-acre parcel of 165 acres adjacent to Hershey Medical Center. They represent phase one of a planned 18-building research center on the land, which has been designated a Keystone Opportunity Zone.

The cost of this initial phase is $46.9 million, according to David Black, president and CEO of the Capital Regional Economic Development Corp., based in Harrisburg. The entire project is devoted to providing start-up companies with laboratories and other services to support the development and manufacture of new products. Targeted tenants are primarily in the fields of biology and medicine, but others may be start-ups in information technology, particularly as it related to healthcare.

"The first building is 50% leased to two tenants," Black tells GlobeSt.com. They are the Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central Pennsylvania and the neighboring medical center's pharmacology department and technical transfer office, which will relocate to the new building when it is completed in approximately 12 months. "The second and third buildings will be constructed in tandem with preleasing."

Hershey Trust Co., which is trustee for the Milton Hershey School, owns the land. Wexford, an affiliate of Townsend Capital, is the developer and will own and manage the buildings. Townsend created its Wexford affiliate in 2005 specifically to develop science and technology projects. Among its current projects are facilities at the University City Science Center in Philadelphia.

The state is providing $5 million for Phase I of the Hershey project, split evenly between a Business in Our Sites grant and a BOS loan. Other supporting organizations are Capital Regional Economic Development Corp., the Harrisburg Regional Chamber, Life Sciences Greenhouse, Penn State College of Medicine and Hershey Trust. The center is envisioned as a biomedical counterpart to North Carolina's Research Triangle Park. No timeline has been established for full build-out, Black says.