Over the past 20 years, the Corporate Research Center has provided Virginia Tech professors and students with opportunities to research and develop intellectual properties, as well as start fledgling companies.
In addition, many companies have opened or relocated offices within the CRC's 24 buildings, and there are four buildings at the CRC under construction today.
Within the next few years, however, one of the university's most distinct features will receive an extensive upgrade. The CRC plans to enlarge its campus by roughly 97 acres, an expansion dubbed "Phase II" by the center's administration.
"The original master plan in the early '90s anticipated this expansion at some point in time, but there was no real guess when it would happen," said CRC President Joe Meredith. "We feel like it'll take about a year for the infrastructure to be built, then we'll start constructing the buildings themselves."
The master plan for Phase II calls for a sewer pump station, water and electrical lines, a fiber optics network, recreational field facilities, a road that bisects the Phase II zone and enough space for 18 new buildings.
Engineering firm Altizer, Hodges and Varne is responsible for the master plan and civil engineering for the expansion. The company has provided civil engineering services on CRC's construction jobs since they were hired for the design of Research Building 14 on the CRC campus.
"We started talking about the Phase II plans in 2007," said Clay Hodges, the civil engineer behind the expansion's design. "It's just a matter now of whether the infrastructure will be built all at once or phased out over the next few years."
This will depend mainly on the funding of the project. The CRC has submitted an application to the Economic Development Administration requesting government funding for about half of the $3 million to $4 million expansion.
The Virginia Tech Foundation will cover the rest of the cost, of which the CRC is a subsidiary.
"The CRC's profits are passed on to the VT Foundation," Meredith said. "Those funds are then used by the foundation to fund a Virginia Tech 'wish list,' of sorts."
Hodges said is a good time to conduct an expansion because contractors are hungry for work in these sparse times.
"Construction companies have been lowering their prices to maintain work, and the expansion project is similar to the kind of programs that would hopefully be funded by the new stimulus bill," Hodges said. "Plus, this new space could provide flexibility and new opportunities for new companies stemming from university research."
The plans are still in the groundwork stages, and the CRC does not currently have any companies lined up looking to lease out any of the potential buildings as of yet.
"The buildings are generally designed as needed; we don't build without pre-leasing at least half of the intended building space," said Paul Fleming, director of facilities at the CRC.
But that's not to say the space won't fill up quickly, Fleming said; the buildings are usually filled within six months of planned construction. In addition, the success rate for tenants on the CRC campus is very high, with less than a 3 percent failure rate per year for private businesses.
"About 50 percent of the buildings on campus are labs; the other half office space," Meredith said. "I think this is a good balance and expect the same throughout the expansion."
For the past 20 years, the CRC has become a mainstay for the Tech and Blacksburg community, providing jobs and careers for students, professors and their spouses. However, Meredith said the expansion and the research center's 20-year anniversary aren't related.
"It was just coincidence the two lined up, but we should have a party, shouldn't we?"