Tucson and UA officials are pursuing a site near the University of Arizona to build proposed biotech research park that would be anchored by C-Path, the FDA-affiliated drug development institute to be built in Tucson.

Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup described the project during his recent State of the City speech.

UA has been holding talks with KB Home regarding a 350-acre site for sale on Tucson's South Side near the northwest corner of Kino Parkway and I-10, according to reports in the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson Citizen.

According to the Citizen, the protracted search for a future tech park has been in the works for three years. The site would be anchored by the drug research institute and could feature office and lab space, as well as commercial and residential development. Five other sites are still being considered, according to the Star.

The Critical Paths to Accelerate Therapies Institute would be the centerpiece of what planners have called a "biopark" or research park in Tucson's South Side. The possible site, located in what the mayor called "a critical corridor" of Tucson in need of economic revival, could feature homes, pedestrian shopping, and restaurants that cater toward the researchers and university faculty that work at or near the institute.

Bruce Wright, UA associate vice president of economic development, who has spearheaded the search for the C-Path cite, told the Citizen he is also looking to add a hotel and convention center at the nearby UA Science and Technology Park.

"This is an ideal location that can exploit the incredible amount of biotech work going on at the University of Arizona," Wright told the Citizen. "We need a place close to campus for (professors') commercialization activities."

The land deal is still only in talking stages, as KB Home has not purchased the plot in question from Sinclair Oil Corp., a necessary step before negotiations could be formalized.

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For more information:

"Parcel's promise stirs big dreams," Arizona Daily Star, 01/15/2005

"Homes, biotech planned for South Side," Tucson Citizen, 01/15/2005

"UA, Tucson meet funding deadline for drug institute," 10/07/2005