FLORENCE — University of Arizona is gearing up to expand its Maricopa Agricultural Center with a new educational campus, technology park and “area of innovation,” with a downtown core area of retail and office development, housing and hotels.
MAC, UA’s research farm on the northeastern edge of Maricopa, has been there since 1979 after moving from Maricopa County. The farm covers 2,100 acres but only uses about 500 acres for actual research, Malcolm Green, UA’s director of growth initiatives, recently told the Pinal County Board of Supervisors.
MAC’s major tenant today is a U.S. Department of Agriculture research site, Arid Land Agricultural Research Center, and the two employ more than 100 research scientists and staff. With no major university research park or business incubator currently in Pinal County, MAC is in a good location to offer these services, Green said.
