Building One opens at Tech Center Research Park

Building One @ Tech Center Research Park, the first of 10 buildings planned for the 50-acre Newport News research park, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark its official opening, according to an announcement by developer W.M. Jordan Co.

The 81,600-square-foot building has been under construction since August 2017. The $450 million, 850,000-square-foot Tech Center Research Park, which is being developed by W.M. Jordan, Virginia Tech and the city of Newport News, is part of larger, mixed-use campus that will include Marketplace at Tech Center, a 250,000-square-foot project with retail and restaurants, and Venture Apartments Tech Center, a 300,000-square-foot multifamily residential community.

“Building One symbolizes the beginning of what will be an innovation powerhouse in Newport News,” Newport News Mayor McKinley Price said in a statement. “New and emerging companies will thrive in an environment backed by the strength of Virginia Tech, Jefferson Lab and their network of entrepreneurial services.”

Building One is 94% leased, according to a press release issued Friday, and its major tenants include coworking firm Gather, which will occupy 27,000 square feet on the first and second floors. Newport News-based iWatch, a medical biosensor technology company, is leasing 25,000 square feet on the first and third floors. ITA International and its subsidiary ITA Data Analytics Center, which provide integrated support services, will be leasing more than 14,000 feet in the facility. 

The Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center and Virginia Tech Outreach and International Affairs division will also occupy 5,000 square feet in the building, serving to promote collaboration with entrepreneurs, professional service providers, research and development firms and science and technology companies. It will also encourage economic development of new and expanding science and tech firms as well as supporting and complementing research-related activites at the adjacent Jefferson Lab, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory.

Colliers International is handling leasing for the research park.