The Kansas Bioscience Authority is teaming with Lawrence and Douglas County governments to turn a warehouse building into a high-tech laboratory center in the East Hills Business Park.

The incubator project – expected to cost nearly $7.5 million – would give startups and other promising bioscience operations a place to test their ideas and develop products.

Lawrence city commissioners are scheduled to review their commitment to the project Tuesday, while Douglas County commissioners are set to discuss the issue Jan. 8.

“This is a bricks-and-mortar achievement in the area of economic development,” Mayor Mike Amyx said, formally announcing the project Thursday at the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. “Having this resource in the Lawrence community will help us capture talent and success from our universities : (and) show that Lawrence not only is interested in fostering and developing companies in the bioscience industry, but we also are actively cultivating the industry in our community.”

The 67,376-square-foot building, at 3813 Greenway Drive, opened in 2002 as a site to attract warehousing or light-manufacturing operations, and has been used for temporary storage by manufacturers in the business park.

Now the building is being lined up for a high-tech overhaul, with specialized plumbing, electrical and ventilation systems to go with state-of-the-art scientific equipment, new office space and shared conference rooms designed to attract promising companies.

One of the companies being discussed as a possible tenant for the center is Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, which has lab and office operations in western Lawrence. Deciphera has not signed a lease for moving into the incubator, but its promising drug-development technology – and relatively highly paid and growing payroll – ranks high on the list of attributes being sought for future tenants.

‘Heck of a deal’

The building also has room for expansion next door, should a company need it.

“Even if Deciphera doesn’t go in there, this is still a heck of a deal,” said Craig Weinaug, who is familiar with the project as county administrator. “It provides us with an asset and a selling point – in combination with the university and all the other things we have in place – that, I think, will put us head and shoulders above anyone else in this type of business.”

Financing for the project is outlined in preliminary agreements worked out among the various partners:

¢ $3.475 million from the Kansas Bioscience Authority, which would buy the building for $2.475 million and then match supplemental local contributions, dollar for dollar, up to $1 million. The authority, created by the state to cultivate and support bioscience projects, has negotiated an option agreement for the property, giving the authority several months to put together detailed plans for the project.

¢ $1.25 million each from the city of Lawrence and Douglas County, to cover “tenant finishes” and otherwise prepare the building for use by bioscience companies. The money actually would be fronted by the bioscience authority, then paid off by the city and county, each of which would spend $125,000 a year for 10 years.

¢ $1 million from the Lawrence-Douglas County Biosciences Authority, an organization formed by and financed jointly by the city and county to support development of high-tech labs and otherwise promote bioscience efforts in the area. Again, the contribution would be fronted by the Kansas Bioscience Authority, then paid off by the local authority with $100,000 a year for 10 years.

¢ $500,000 from Douglas County Development Inc., a partnership of the city, county and chamber that runs the East Hills Business Park. DCDI is selling the 4-year-old building for $2.475 million – about $1 million below cost – and then contributing $500,000 toward improvements.

High priority

Mayor Mike Amyx introduces Clay Blair, chairman of the Kansas Bioscience Authority, on Thursday during a Lawrence Chamber of Commerce announcement about a bioscience proposal for Lawrence.

Even with the city facing a long list of projects, services and other items pressing for public money – plans for an expanded Lawrence Public Library among them – the bioscience incubator stands out, Amyx said.

“Priorities are priorities,” he said Thursday after the meeting attended by fellow city commissioners David Schauner, Boog Highberger and Sue Hack.

The announcement drew attendance and support from more than a dozen government officials, university administrators and business leaders. Among them were Kansas University Chancellor Robert Hemenway and County Commissioner Jere McElhaney.

Such partnerships and broad-based support are key to building a bioscience hub in Lawrence, which will be looked upon to generate high-paying jobs, industry-leading products and other beneficial items for the entire state of Kansas, said Clay Blair, chairman of the Kansas Bioscience Authority.

The presence of KU offers a wealth of intellectual capital often sought after by bioscience companies, either spinning off from university research or looking to tap into expertise for their own projects, Blair said. The next step is making room for those companies to be in Lawrence.

“You have an opportunity to make good things happen,” Blair said. “If you don’t have these facilities, it’s difficult to make things happen.”