08-25-08 Council Meeting Agenda & Packet

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advice contained in a report by Hammer Siler George Associates that was commissioned by the University of Notre Dame, the City of South Bend and Project Future in 2003 -2004. The overall size of the IP @ND is small when compared to the typical university research park. In 2006, the Association of University Research Parks reports, based upon responses from 70 parks, that the size of such parks ranged from 4.5 to 7,000 acres; the median size was 115 acres and the average size was 505 acres. Clearly, the IP @ND will be among the very smallest of the parks in terms of land size. The relatively small size of the IP @ND provides some significant advantages for the University of Notre Dame and for the communities in the Michiana region. It discourages serious consideration of the IP @ND for basic research, yet provides space for serious exploration and development of technology platforms created through research on the campus or in collaboration with other universities or colleges. Also, the need for additional buildings and sites in Michiana is appropriate to expand the "virtual' capacity of the park and/or to provide space for entities that outgrow the space or the purposes of the 1P @ND. In contrast with the larger research parks, the IP @ND will not become a competitor with the private sector as a real estate landlord; in fact the IP @ND becomes a generator of potential tenants for private or public developments in the communities of the region, as well as the remainder of the State. Relative to the other options considered, the advantages of this particular arrangement include the following: • the clear objective to commercialize University research and to bring in potential new businesses, both to the economic development benefit of Michiana. • an additional opportunity for the IP @ND not - for - profit corporation to obtain tax- deductible gifts /grants to cover costs of facilities, infrastructure and program operations. Page 15 of 23