INDIANAPOLIS - A recovering economy that has sparked rising interest in a Purdue University technology park has officials weighing an expansion of the three-year-old facility.
The Purdue Research Park Indianapolis near the Indianapolis International Airport is nearing 85 percent occupancy after struggling to fill space for the first two years after it opened in 2009.
The Indianapolis Business Journal reported that interest in the park intensified last fall. It now has 21 tenants and less than 9,000 square feet available in the 55,000-square-foot building south of Interstate 70.
"We are actively exploring expansion options because we don't like being out of inventory," said Joseph Hornett, senior vice president, treasurer and chief operating officer of the Purdue Research Foundation.
Tenants include myCOI, which makes software to help companies track insurance policies; Ithaca, N.Y.-based Advion BioServices, which invested $6 million to install a laboratory and occupies 22,000 square feet; and Scale Computing, which makes data storage devices for small and medium-size businesses.
Founded by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology grad Jeff Ready four years ago, Scale has been ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the fastest-growing young companies.
Hornett said the jump in occupancy has spurred discussions about expanding, but he said he wasn't sure when park officials would decide to move forward.
"We've already been bit by the economy once," Hornett said.
The park had only a handful of tenants and a mostly empty parking lot in its first two years. Much of the surrounding land in the western portion of Holladay Properties' AmeriPlex park remains undeveloped.
Purdue, Holladay and the nearby airport "all got smacked with the same board," Hornett said of the economic downturn.
Hornett said the long-term plan is to have multiple incubator buildings at the site. But with interest from new clients picking up lately, the quickest and cheapest way to proceed might be to expand from the current building so Purdue doesn't have to duplicate conference rooms and other features shared by tenants.
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