Tech park planned near Georgia Tech

A new hot spot for emerging technology and biomedical companies is being planned near Georgia Tech.

The 11-acre "Technology Enterprise Park" will be on North Avenue across from Georgia Tech's research area. It is being developed by Georgia Advanced Technology Ventures Inc., an organization working in cooperation with Georgia Tech. One of its main goals is to provide space for companies that are too big for an incubator, but might not have deep enough pockets to lease commercial office space.

Organizers said they won't be ready to disclose full details of the park until next month, but they provided some information about the project, which is generating a buzz in the biotech community.

"It will fill a big gap in the technology and economic development cycle for businesses in Atlanta and the region," said Scott Levitan, executive director for real estate development at Georgia Tech, noting that the school itself is not developing the project.

Part of the challenge is that emerging technology and biomedical companies often have special requirements because they need laboratories and other areas for equipment -- beyond office space.

"We believe there is a significant need for flexible laboratory space that can be easily and quickly fit out for emerging and established technology companies," said Levitan via e-mail. "It's not easy for the commercial market to meet these needs because the cost of the space is high [due] to the laboratory use. Startup companies have challenges in meeting the credit requirements of most commercial development lenders."

Georgia Advanced Technology Ventures owns the land where the project is being developed. It is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization that fosters and supports education, scientific research and economic development, according to Georgia Tech's Web site.

It's unclear how large the development will be, although some speculate it will be more than 1 million square feet.

Meanwhile, the biotech community already is saying it's what Atlanta needs.

"Companies leaving the incubator are at critical juncture, because when they're beginning to commercialize a product or a process, their demand for highly specific or customized facilities increases, but they don't have the financial operations yet to make them a prized tenant, so they are betwixt and between," said Dr. Tom Calloway, a partner in the bioscience seed fund Georgia Venture Partners LLC.

Raymond F. Schinazi, who has founded a handful of successful biotech companies, said many young companies need help finding space when they graduate from an incubator.

"I think it's absolutely essential," said Schinazi, who most recently started RFS Pharma LLC.

Calloway said bioscience companies are particularly challenged when trying to find suitable office space. "This is one of the unique things in the life sciences industries -- we have specialized space requirements and we often grow quickly," he said. "We've had several companies that have raised capital recently and are ready to leave the university-based incubators, but probably aren't credit-worthy yet in terms of having someone build them a customized facility."

For example, Tucker-based Altea Therapeutics Corp., which recently raised $30 million in venture capital, is outgrowing its location. Company officials said earlier this month they have been struggling to find a low-cost 50,000-square-foot complex.

Georgia also is motivated to give these companies a boost because there is tremendous competitive pressure from other states.

"We have to make sure we don't lose these companies because they get too big for the incubator and they can't find anywhere else to go," said Jeff Strane, director of the innovation and technology office at the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

Strane said the state is not directly involved in the project, but that officials will be keeping an eye out for tenants who could be candidates for state funding.

"The state could come in and give a loan to a company that was taking 40 percent of a 100,000-square-foot office, for example," Strane said. "It would be a catalyst for the project."

The state's economic development agency got $2 million in the 2005 supplemental budget to help young technology and biotech companies improve their office space by expanding or building new labs.

Strane said the state has had a very positive experience loaning $2.5 million to Alpharetta-based biopharmaceutical company Inhibitex Inc. to help build the company's new headquarters and research facility. It was part of a pilot program started in December 2003 to help emerging bioscience companies. Beginning this fall, the state will get one-third of that money back from Inhibitex and plans to reinvest it to help other bioscience companies, Strane said.
___________