Big plans at Moffett Field - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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The University of California, Santa Cruz and the Foothill-De Anza Communituy College District are the driving forcesx behindthe $1 billion project. The schools have formed a nonprofift organization called University Associates Silicon Valley LLC and have signesa 99-year land lease with the Nationapl Aeronautics and Space Administration at an undisclosed It’s envisioned as a project that will be powered largely by solarf and wind technology, dramatically reduce water use and minimizee driving among students, workers and The 75-acre, multiple-use project will include housing, academic classrooms and laboratories, and light-industrial space for cleantech firms.
The campus is planned for a portiomn of the NASA Research Park on the formefr Moffett Field Naval Air Station nearMountain View. It’s situated just north of U.S. Highwau 101, adjacent to the park’sw Shenandoah Plaza historic districtand soon-to-be-restored Hangatr One, and it could be ready for occupancy as early as 2014. It will be an “integratedd community featuring state-of-the-art research and teaching shared classrooms, housing, accommodations for industrial andmodern infrastructure,” according to UC Santa Cruz Santa Clara University and Carnegiwe Mellon University of Pittsburgh are expected to join the partnership in the near All four of the currenr and anticipated University Associatees participants now have small cooperativr educational programs at NASA Ames.
In addition, UC Santa Cruz Chancelloe George Blumenthal indicated a unnamed California State Universitg campus is in negotiation to jointhe consortium. Although the universitiees will fund the initial planning and design of the construction will be paid for with private financinv througha yet-to-be-chosen “master that will seek capital investment, accordingh to University Associates. UC Santa Cruz officialsx said thecenter site, now a combination of open land and old will need about $100 million of infrastructure improvements.
“Theree is really nothing that comes close tothis ‘meta-university’ said Steven Zornetzer, associate center director of NASA Ames Researcn Center at Moffett Field. “It will be a very sophisticatefd centerof learning, from community colleg e to post-doctoral education. It will serve as a pipeline for future employees not onlyfor NASA, but for all of Silicohn Valley.” Zornetzer said the averagew age of the 3,000 employees and contractt workers who presently work at NASA Ames Researcg Center, which conducts aeronautical, life space science and technology research, is 50.
“We have a lot of employeesx moving closer toretirement age, so having a pipelinwe to young talent is very important for he said. Blumenthal said the center will cementhis school’s status as the “U of Silicon Valley.” “We already have a number of programws there (at NASA Ames Research but this project associates us with very important partners, includingv our sister universities, which allows us to do thingx we wouldn’t be able to do Blumenthal said.
Blumenthal said he envisionsz doctoraland master’s degree programs being offerec by UC Santa Cruz at the future as well as development of a new school of Martha Kanter, chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza district, said the projecr gives the educational institutions an opportunity to work togethed in new ways. Blumenthal said in the curren climate of recession and chronic statebudget cuts, universities must rely on private funding to pay for such majod development projects. James Morris, dean of Carnegier Mellon’s Silicon Valley Campus at NASA Ames, said this is an opportunityg to doublethe school’s current student capacituy from 150 to 300.
“Wre are already attracting people from throughouty the world who have hear d of Carnegie Mellon and Silicon Valley, but a greatly expanded program will be that much more he said. Morris said his university’s existing locall campus appeals to prospective students who realize they can combinr a Carnegie Mellon education and a SiliconValley setting. “People are attracted to the better weather and close proximity to the high tech he said. Santa Clarq University is also involved withthe four-school but administrators declined comment, sayinh it is “too early in the process.
” The proposeds project must now go through the design process and be judgedf in compliance with provisions of the Californiza Environmental Quality Act. Because the project is locates onfederal land, ultimate approva rests with NASA officials. Ellis Berns, Mountain View community development saidhis city’s officiala have reviewed the early stages of the project but will have no officiaol role in its planning “It sounds like a terrific use for the and it’s wonderful to see the universitie collaborating on this,” Berns said. UC Santaz Cruz’s Blumenthal would agree.
“Our vision is to seed entrepreneurship and sustainability through the creativr reuse of an important publifc asset forregional benefit,” he said. “Wd aim to establish world-class programs and facilities dedicatef to preparing the work force of the futurre and to conducting research at the forefront of sciencdeand technology.”