NASA Research Park to Include Nearly 6 Million Square Feet of Space

A P3 Navy aircraft with Hangar One at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. (Copyright 2008: Douglas Messier)

The summer edition of the NPR Post, which is a publication of the NASA Research Park out here at Ames, has an article written by Carol Hanner about its future expansion plans:

Currently host to more than 70 on-site industry, university and non-profit partners, NRP will ultimately comprise 5.7 million square feet of new construction for research and development offices, university classrooms and laboratories, rental housing, museums, and a conference and education center.

New construction at NRP is expected to total approximately $2.8 billion, generating an average of 1,700 construction jobs annually over the next 15 years in the Bay Area, 1,900 in California, and more than 2,800 nationally.

“With the unemployment rate in the Bay Area for construction workers at 30 percent, the development of the NASA Research Park may create thousands of jobs that will help put people to work and stimulate the local economy. It is these types of projects that create a triple bottom line: higher education, economic development and good jobs,” said Neil Struthers, chief executive officer of the Santa Clara and San Benito Building and Construction Trades Council.

Upon full occupancy, NRP partners may further stimulate the local, state, and national economy with new jobs and economic activity. Bay Area Economics estimated that NRP would trigger $4 billion in new annual economic activity resulting in an additional 21,400 jobs in the Bay Area region. The study also predicted that nationally, NRP will contribute $5.8 billion in new annual economic activity and 33,800 new permanent jobs.

The NRP was developed in partnership with the neighboring cities of Mountain View and Sunnyvale. “For many years the City of Mountain View and NASA Ames have enjoyed a close partnership. This Economic Benefits Study quantifies Ames’, and particularly the Research Park’s, employment and economic output contribution to our region, and the city looks forward to continuing this partnership to enhance these benefits for our community,” said Mountain View City Manager Kevin C. Duggan.

The study concluded that NASA Ames also plays a critical role in supporting the nation’s drive to promoting future economic growth. NASA Ames has forged numerous partnerships with private industry, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations that have contributed to breakthroughs in climate change research, disaster response capacity, commercialization of space, robotics, supercomputing, nanotechnology, small satellites, and green/clean technology.

“NASA Ames fuels innovation through exploration that creates jobs and helps power the Silicon Valley economy,” said Silicon Valley Leadership Group Chief Executive Officer Carl Guardino. “This is yet one more stellar example of NASA Ames’ contributions to our region, state and nation.”

NASA is working to educate the next generation of scientists, engineers, and technical professionals, and operates a comprehensive set of educational programs that teach students and train teachers in science, technology, engineering and math. The NRP’s educational partners include the University of California Santa Cruz, Carnegie Mellon University, Santa Clara University, Foothill/De Anza Community College, United Negro College Fund Special Programs Corporation, and Singularity University.

“In addition to the NRP research and development collaborations, we are developing more formal multi-party relationships, including science, technology, engineering and math education and regional disaster assistance, with the fundamental premise of leveraging all parties’ expertise, facilities and resources to accomplish more than we can as individual organizations,” said NRP Director Michael Marlaire.

It will be interesting to see how quickly they can develop this project. The last thing the Valley really needs at the moment is more office space. Drive around here and you see entire buildings that are completely empty. Some of them have move-in specials similar to what they normally do for apartment rentals. It’s the reason that construction unemployment is at 30 percent.