$75 Million Approved for 16 Tech Development

November 09, 2015

The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI) took a major step forward on Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, to secure office, collaboration and innovation space in the heart of an urban innovation community adjacent to Indianapolis’s largest concentration of research university and advanced industry assets. The IBRI has plans to occupy its facility by 2018.

The Indianapolis City County Council voted unanimously to approve $75 million in Economic Development Tax Increment Revenue Bonds, which will enable infrastructure improvements for development of a 60-acre innovation community with the IBRI as its anchor tenant. The infrastructure improvements are needed in order to prepare the site for vertical development by commercial developers. Investments include utility relocation, roadways, flood plain remediation and bridge construction to better connect this development with the city’s research assets and the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus. This development, called 16 Tech, is one of the most significant milestones in Indianapolis’s ongoing efforts to develop, attract and retain top talent for continued regional growth and is a seminal event in the IBRI’s continued growth.

As one of the first tenants, IBRI is anticipated to occupy approximately 75,000 square feet of welcoming, open and transparent office, innovation, collaboration and lab space in a new multi-tenant facility. As the IBRI and 16 Tech grow, there are longer-term plans to anticipate a second and connected research tower. In this capacity the IBRI will be a driving catalyst behind continued build-out of the innovation community. Other like-minded, collaborative organizations are being courted to set up facilities with state-of-the art equipment and resources for idea generation, innovation and fabrication.

16 Tech celebrates innovation as a social enterprise and builds on a proven place-making strategy that combines research and medical institutions, incubators and accelerators, public and private spaces, and walkable neighborhoods to encourage and support creative networking. The result is an environment that attracts and retains the best talent with a live/work/learn/play lifestyle offering residential, cultural and retail development next to industry-specific space that encourages a talented workforce to push the envelope of creativity, development and discovery.

The City County Council’s approval of Economic Development Tax Increment Revenue Bonds followed months of collaboration by the IBRI, 16 Tech stakeholders, community and neighborhood leaders, and city and council leaders, all focused on creating an urban environment to attract, retain and develop talent.