One Discovery Square will be located at the corner of 4th Street SW and 2nd Avenue SW in Rochester, Minn. [Rendering courtesy of Mortenson]
Slated to open in April 2019, the four-story building is meant to be the first step in the creation of an innovation campus that will eventually encompass 2 million square feet. Discovery Square is part of the 20-year Destination Medical Center project, in which $585 million in state and local government infrastructure funds are expected to leverage about $5 billion of private investment in Rochester.
Mayo Clinic will occupy a third of the building, with the clinic’s anchor tenants including advanced radiologic technology, advanced laboratory diagnostic medicine and regenerative medicine, Dr. Clark Otley, medical director of the Dept. of Business Development at Mayo, told Medical Design & Outsourcing last month.
In the latest news, the University of Minnesota Rochester will also serve as an anchor tenant, with UMR using the space for hooded laboratories, learning laboratories and collaborative space.
“UMR students are in the heart of the medical world and are able to learn and work alongside some of the foremost practitioners and leaders in health care research. Our presence in Discovery Square will enrich our students’ experience,” Lori Carrell, UMR’s chancellor, said in a news release.
Building amenities will include heavy infrastructure to support lab services, multiple collaboration spaces and patios, programmed services to foster collaboration and tenant interaction, and access to retail, restaurants, hotels and professional services.
Mortenson is the developer, and Colliers International is handling building leases.
The idea is to give companies large and small — including in the medical device space — the opportunity to locate in close proximity to Mayo Clinic in order to foster better collaboration with one of the United States’ top health providers.
Large, legacy medical device companies including Boston Scientific have had close collaborations with Mayo Clinic. And there has been some buzz around local startups. Just one example is Sonex Health, which is touting a surgical tool that allows for carpal tunnel release surgery outside of an operating room.
Overall, Mayo Clinic in recent years has sought to more efficiently commercialize its innovations. Its business development operation is now a one-stop shop for companies of all sizes seeking to collaborate with the health provider.
