The Iowa Board of Regents unanimously approved the University of Iowa’s schematic design, project description and budget for a new, nearly $20 million Biomedical Research Support Facility expansion at its Aug. 2 virtual meeting.
In regents documents, the project is described as a “one-story, 17,200 square foot addition to the northwest corner of the existing Biomedical Research Support Facility” on the UI’s Oakdale campus.
“(It will be) built for support functions for multiple colleges, certainly bioactivity led by the Carver College of Medicine, but multiple colleges on the Oakdale campus, using the Oakdale campus and in coordinated and operational coordination with our main campus research support facilities that we have,” Rod Lehnertz, senior vice president for UI Finance and Operations, said while presenting at the meeting.
The original structure was built in 2015. Regents documents say the location “provides more opportunities for future growth and compliments the UI Master Plan.”
The building costs
The $7.8 million of the $19.75 million project will be funded by a National Institutes of Health grant and the remainder by the UI Carver College of Medicine Indirect Recovery funds. The building is located at 2292 Old Farmstead Road in the university’s research park in Coralville. It is owned by the UI.
Regents documents say the site was determined to be the best for expansion as it minimizes overlap with existing university facilities and “maximizes constructive collaboration.”
“Adequate biomedical lab space is needed to recruit and retain top-notch researchers and their programs from a range of disciplines,” the documents say. “This proposed facility expansion is critically needed to address current and future needs for the important research performed at the University of Iowa.”
The regents initially approved the project’s planning in June 2022 and the UI spent more than $1.5 million on the design stage. With the approval, the university moves to the next stage of its building plans.
“With your approval would it move forward with the bidding of the project, completion of design and bidding of the project, with the intent to start construction in the fall of 2023 and complete that construction in spring 2025,” Mr. Lehnertz said.
The estimated annual operating and routine maintenance costs total $325,000 which will come from the Office of the Vice President for Research’s Core Research Centers Operating Budget. The annual building renewal cost is $250,000.
