Charlottesville Area: Growth & Development

Virginia Business
December 2005

New U.Va. sports center under construction
The John Paul Jones multipurpose arena is under construction at the University of Virginia. The sports complex will include seating for 15,000, a lounge, practice court, weight training rooms and office space for U.Va. basketball coaches. The project also includes a parking lot with space for 1,500 vehicles and a connector to Route 250. Total cost for the project is more than $129 million. It is scheduled for completion next summer.

Northwest Airlines resumes service to Charlottesville
Northwest Airlines has resumed nonstop service between Charlottesville and its Detroit hub. The airline began offering three daily flights to Detroit in August. “We are pleased to welcome Charlottesville back into our growing global network,” says Tom Bach, vice president of market planning at Northwest. Travelers flying out of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport use the Detroit hub for connections to cities throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. Northwest served Charlottes-ville for three months in 2001. The service will be operated with Northwest Airlink partner Mesaba Airlines, utilizing Saab 340 turboprop airplanes. The planes have a seating capacity of up to 34 passengers. Charlottesville-Albemarle offers 60 daily nonstop flights to and from Charlotte, Philadelphia, New York/ LaGuardia, Washington/Dulles, Cincinnati, and Atlanta. The airport is served by subsidiaries of Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways.

New Biomed facility planned for Albemarle County
Princeton BioMeditech Corp. plans to invest $7 million to build a manufacturing facility in Albemarle County, creating 115 jobs in the emerging biomedical field. PBM has entered into a marketing and manufacturing agreement with ContraVac, a privately-held biotech company, for products that test male fertility. The new facility also will provide research and development, along with manufacturing and distribution, for current and future products. Princeton BioMeditech has developed and introduced more than 70 simple, rapid diagnostic tests for a range of applications, such as the testing for fertility, infectious diseases, drug abuse, tumor markers, veterinary diagnostics and environmental uses. The company markets its products in more than 48 countries.

New centers at university to showcase research
The University of Virginia School of Medicine recently located 25,000 square feet of labs at the Emerging Technology Center One building to house two new centers, the Center for Addition Research and Education (CARE) and the Center for Research in Contraceptive and Reproductive Health (CRCRH).

Established last year by Drs. Nassima Ait-Daoud and Bank-ole Johnson, chair of the U.Va. Department of Psychiatric Medicine, CARE is an addictions center where research is helping patients overcome alcohol, drug and nicotine dependence. Ait-Daoud oversees a staff of research associates, psychologists, nurse practitioners and physicians. U.Va. CARE’s main goal is to develop drugs and new approaches to help patients overcome addictions, particularly biological addicts who have a genetic predisposition to drug-seeking behavior. CRCRH conducts research for the development of new contraceptive drugs. Its work incorporates cell and molecular biology, immunology, reproductive biology, chemical engineering and structural biology.

Defense center expansion to create 1,000 new jobs
The recently announced expansion of the National Ground Intelligence Center in northern Albemarle County will result in the creation of more than 1,000 jobs during the next five years. The center now employs more than 900 military and civilian personnel. It is an intelligence analysis organization for the Department of Defense, providing intelligence on foreign ground forces for the department and other decision makers. Government officials describe the center’s intelligence role as critical to military efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to counter-terrorist initiatives. The expansion is scheduled for completion by 2009. The project will include a 219,000-square-foot building and $85 million in new facility investments at the center’s 29-acre campus.