On Tuesday, July 17, UNLV made a bit of history in the Silver State, breaking ground on the first innovation building at the UNLV Harry Reid Research and Technology Park, in partnership with master developer Gardner Company.
And while the dusty desert space at 2400 W. Sunset Rd. doesn’t look like much right now, the lone construction crane that currently stands sentinel over this 122-acre parcel of land will soon be the center of a flurry of activity.
With dozens of local business leaders, stakeholders, journalists, and members of partner organizations looking on, UNLV President Marta Meana, Gardner Chairman Kem C. Gardner, NSHE Regent Sam Lieberman, representatives from Gardner, and others donned hard hats to shovel out the first symbolic piles of dirt that will one day be the site of 1.5 million square feet of commercial office space that fosters innovation in Southern Nevada. Supported by the UNLV Research Foundation, the UNLV Research Park is a mixed-use master-planned community designed to advance research, business development, and economic growth in the technology sector.
“This first building at the Harry Reid Research and Technology Park is a critical piece in finishing the economic development puzzle at UNLV as a single point of contact to drive opportunities to impact, innovations to life-changing products and services, real-world engagements for students, and the opening of doors to the community,” said Zach Miles, associate vice president of economic development at UNLV, during the groundbreaking ceremony.
In the last five years, UNLV has made economic development a top priority, and in that time, it has facilitated more than $10 million in corporate-sponsored research and over $41 million in Small Business Development Center funding. Developments like the UNLV Harry Reid Research and Technology Park are strong economic engines that drive regional innovation and growth, according to the Association of University Research Parks, furthering UNLV’s efforts in this area.
The first innovation building is just the beginning. An initial economic analysis by the UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research indicates that, as it is fleshed out, the Research Park will generate 25,000 new jobs and as much as $2.6 billion in direct and indirect economic impact in Las Vegas.
As Miles remarked shortly before grabbing a shovel, Research Park is proof that UNLV is open for business.
To learn more about co-locating at the Research Park, visit http://unlvtechpark.com/.
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