Prince William County officials will cut the ribbon on a new road that will help bring more companies to its life sciences business park.
Discovery Boulevard will allow for more growth by cutting through the 500-acre Innovation@Prince William business park outside of Manassas, said county spokeswoman Liz Bahrns.
“We currently have five or six different employers waiting to start construction along this road. Now that is has been completed and necessary utilities extended to the area, we expect construction to start this fall,” said Sean Connaughton, Prince William County Board of Supervisors chair.
Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical firm; ATCC, formerly the American Type Culture Collection and George Mason University’s Prince William campus are just three major institutions within the park.
The Virginia General Assembly recently approved $63 million to move the Northern Virginia forensics lab to the park and $42 million to build an National Institute of Health-supported biocontainment lab at GMU at the site.
“We now have critical mass in this area for a real world-class life science center,” Connaughton said.
The road also provides access to about 150-acres that can be developed for future businesses, said Jason Grant, a Prince William Department of Economic Development spokesman.
Discovery Boulevard will offer:
» 425,000 square feet of office space in surrounding area
» More than $45 million in capital improvements
» Some 600 jobs for Prince William County
cgoodman@dcexaminer.com
