By Brenna Goth, The Republic | azcentral.com
Massive expansion on the downtown Phoenix Biomedical Campus was green-lighted Tuesday after the City Council approved a concept proposed by Arizona State University in partnership with NantWorks, the company led by billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.
The council voted unanimously to amend its lease agreement with ASU to include about seven acres of downtown city land for the development of a technology-based health research hub.
The roughly four blocks are located between Garfield, Fillmore, Fourth and Sixth Streets and are already slated for development under the Phoenix Biomedical Campus master plan. The campus will be about 30 acres when fully built and already include university programs and the Translational Genomics Research Institute.
ASU and NantWorks’ vision for downtown — coordinated with help from former Mayor Phil Gordon, who joined a Soon-Shiong institute when he left office — was fast-tracked to the council and first presented publicly on Tuesday. The approval elicited concern from at least one developer who told the council his company was preparing to submit a proposal for the land.
