Increase Prompts Purchase of Lab

A dramatic increase in research funding at the University of Kansas has led to a $3.6 million purchase of 55,000 square feet of office and laboratory space by the KU Center for Research, Inc. A 40 percent increase in external funding of KU research in the past three years, including a robust 25 percent surge last year, fueled the decision to purchase the property, said Robert Barnhill, president of the Center for Research and KU vice chancellor for research and public service.

The Center for Research purchased the office and laboratory space, formerly owned by Oread, Inc., at less than half the appraised value and at approximately a third of the cost that would have been required to build equivalent facilities.

Since the February announcement that Oread, Inc., a company that originated from the HBC in the early 1980s, had filed for Chapter 11 protection, officials at the University had expressed interest in the company's Lawrence sites. KU purchased three buildings and seven acres of land formerly owned by Oread from CTECH, a Lawrence-based company that bought the property from JFM Limited Partnership after Oread bankruptcy court proceedings in June.

Two of the three buildings are laboratories and will be used by researchers in biology, chemistry and biomedical science. The third is an office building.