Page 20 - Delaware Lawyer - Spring 2019

FEATURE
Figure 1. An aerial view of the Chrysler Assembly plant at the turn of the 21st century.The site was covered with over 1 million sq. ft. of buildings and facilities supported by rail service.
Figure 2. The first step was to deconstruct all the facilities, except for the white administration building in front, recycle all the materials, check for any environmental issues and sell the equipment.
demic research as well as entrepreneurial companies.
The development of the STAR Cam- pus began in 2009 on the site of the old Chrysler assembly plant (Figure 1). The old assembly plant was demolished in 2011 (Figure 2). Shortly after demolition, the road and utility masterplan was prepared and execution began, with state support.
A STAR team began meeting to re- view prospective tenant interests. Bloom Energy, a manufacturer of solid-state fuel cells that generate electricity, became the first tenant at STAR, with encouragement from the state. Also located on the site are various programs from UD’s College of Health Science (CHS), which had long been space-constrained for its numerous research, innovation and community out- reach programs. The STAR Campus is now home to CHS’s Delaware Physical Therapy Program, which is the top-rated physical therapy program in the nation, and the Wounded Warrior and Go Baby Go programs.
Delle Donne & Associates was selected to be the developer of a 270,000 sq. ft. Health Sciences Complex. Half the build- ing was leased by CHS and the remainder by the private sector. SevOne, founded by former UD students backed by signifi- cant venture funding from Bain Capital, moved into the private sector side. Other tenants were added to fill the remainder of the building. These included a wet laboratory incubator called DTP@STAR, enabled by a state loan and an Econom-
It is estimated that by winter 2020, STAR Campus will have created as many new jobs as Chrysler employed at its peak.
ic Development Agency grant. On the opening of the Health Sciences Complex in 2016, 14 startup companies moved into the incubator space and were focused on life-enhancing technologies including cancer therapeutics, agriculture, compos- ite materials and more. Three have grown and graduated to larger space in Delaware. Many have won R&D grants and venture capital investments.
Very soon after occupying the first building, UD CHS continued to grow and move more of its units to STAR. The Tower at STAR is 10 stories, with seven floors for UD CHS and three for the private sector. The first private sec- tor tenants are Predictive Analytics and WILMAPCO. In the Tower is a 300-per- son audion for convening UD and com- munity events.
After Chemours separated from Du- Pont, it needed a large new R&D head-
quarters. It chose the STAR Campus to erect a 312,000 sq. ft. laboratory and pilot facility that will open in late 2019.
Near the Tower, construction of the Biopharmaceutical Innovation Building, which is 200,000 sq. ft., is well underway. The building will serve as the headquar- ters for the National Institute for Innova- tion in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuti- cals (NIIMBL). NIIMBL has more than 150 universities, private companies and nonprofit organizations collaborating in the shared space. NIIMBL was the largest single grant UD ever won, at $70 million, with a 2:1 match by others. This work will be transformative for the life science in- dustry and attract many to Delaware.
Bringing the area together and making commuting to STAR Campus much eas- ier, the Newark Regional Transportation Center (NRTC) with Amtrak and SEPTA service will open later in 2019.
There are many other academic and private sector collaboration projects un- der consideration as well as amenities for those coming to the site. It is estimated that by winter 2020, the site will have created as many new jobs as Chrysler em- ployed at its peak (Figure 3). Resources for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
First State Innovation (FSI) was formed in 2006 as a nonprofit to address Delaware’s need to shift from a corporate to an entrepreneurial economy if it were to thrive again. Many leaders and organi- zations have since emerged to play an im-
18 DELAWARE LAWYER SPRING 2019