With completion of the third phase of the New Venture Center, the Fitchburg Technology Campus is poised for additional expansion.
About 85 percent of the three buildings that comprise the New Venture Center are occupied, said Chris Armstrong, director of brokerage and leasing for Avante Properties.
New Venture Center I (completed May 2005) and III (completed July 2006) each have 46,000 square feet. New Venture Center II, which was completed this spring, has 40,000 square feet, of which 15,000 square feet is still available for lease.
The centers are designed for technology-based start up firms, with additional space available to accommodate expansion.
Despite the recession, Armstrong said firms have shown "plenty of interest" in moving to the center, although they have been "slower to decide as they analyze the options."
There's interest by both local and outside firms who want to "tap into the talent in the area," Armstrong said.
There are still building sites available on the 120-acre Fitchburg Technology Campus, but developers asked the city to accelerate planning for the second phase of the campus to accommodate firms requiring additional space.
Phase two of the campus will eventually include 750,000 square feet of office and research space, with construction expected to begin late 2010 or early 2011, pending approval to expand the urban service area, Armstrong said.
Armstrong said the first phase of the campus currently houses 27 firms employing approximately 700 people at salaries averaging more than $70,000.
The campus accounted for $65 million in additional valuation, and is paying off tax-increment financing of more than $7 million ahead of schedule, Armstrong said.
"We love it out here," said Paul Gramann, principal and president of The Madison Group, a consulting firm for the plastics industry.
The firm was the first tenant in Venture Center II, after having outgrown its space at the UW Research Park. The firm did an extensive search for another site until hearing about the campus. He said it was "pretty impressive" that Mike Zimmerman, the city's coordinator of economic development, called to encourage the firm to consider moving to Fitchburg.
The firm later outgrew its space here also, and didn't consider locating anywhere else but the New Venture Center, Gramann said.
He said the location is "a happy compromise" for the firm's seven employees, since all can travel to and from work without using the Beltline.
