A Minnesota Science Park official said the group is continuing discussions with potential corporate tenants. The effort, led by a group of technology boosters, is to develop 32 acres of land near the University of Minnesota's Biomedical Discovery District into a cluster of buildings to support private research and commercialization of technology.
Peter Bianco, one of the founders behind the Minnesota Science Park, said the group has been in discussions with "household name brands in the technology space" that are interested in collaborating with various entities involved with the U's Biomedical Discovery District. The district encompasses space for scientists to do research in areas such as diabetes, cancer and other diseases.
"The fact that these types of conversations are getting more frequent, is giving us a lot of encouragement," Bianco said.
Bianco said a weak commercial real estate market has impacted the Minnesota Science Park, as well as other commercial developments.
"If the economy weren't so bad right now, we would be way down on the road on this," Bianco said.
The group has looked into receiving money from the America Competes Act, but funding for that initiative may be impacted as the nation's political leaders come up with a new deficit plan.
The America Competes Act sets aside $750,000 for planning purposes per project and $50 million per project in federal loan guarantees of up to 80 percent of new construction costs for new research parks, Bianco said.
