Virginia’s technology community hopes a new research facility to be built by Virginia Tech in Ballston will boost its bottom line.
“We find this very, very exciting,” said Bobbie G. Kilberg, president and chief executive officer of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. “One of the things Virginia needs to do a better job of is attracting federal research and development money and commercializing our research … into the private sector.”
The metro area ranks high in federal procurement dollars, Kilberg said, but Virginia “lags” in federal research and development money compared with other states such as California, Massachusetts and Texas, which also receive large procurement contracts.
The seven-story research center at 900 North Glebe Road is scheduled for completion in 2010. It is part of a larger, mixed-use project being developed by JGB Cos which will have almost 133,000 square feet of office space, 36,000 square feet of retail and a 90-unit apartment building providing affordable housing, said Karen Vasquez, a spokeswoman for Arlington Economic Development. Neighboring 800 North Glebe Road, also part of the project, will have a 10-story building designed by firm Cooper Carry with 283,000 square feet of office space and 26,000 square feet for retail.
The newly formed nonprofit Ballston Science and Technology Alliance will occupy the ground floor of the new facility. The alliance will work to promote science and technology in general and the work of major research organizations — such as the National Science Foundation, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and research offices for the Navy, Air Force and Department of Homeland Security — with operations in Ballston.
Smaller private tech companies will also benefit from the “research hub” that will be bolstered by Tech’s facility, said Vasquez.
Representatives from Virginia Tech did not return calls for comment. The university will announce its official plans for the research facility on Thursday.
