U-M gets ready to move into old Pfizer campus, create 3,000 jobs

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 | Source: Concentrate

The transition of Ann Arbor’s Pfizer campus is nearly complete as the University of Michigan prepares to move onto the 174-acre research facility.

U-M is expected to close on the campus it bought for $108 million within the next couple of weeks. Move-in will begin this summer with the first offices opening this fall. Laboratories could open by early next year.

The deal is expected to create between 2,000-3,000 jobs within the next 10 years. Those would replace the jobs that were lost when Pfizer closed the facility in 2007. How many of those jobs will be created right away, however, isn’t known yet.

"It's very, very hard to be specific beyond that because of we’re in the planning process right now," says Stephen Forrest, dean of research for the University of Michigan.

The campus is expected to provide a springboard for new discoveries, job creation and educational opportunity at the university. The facility is adjacent to U-M’s North Campus, so a number of natural synergies are expected to occur with the addition of the old Pfizer facility.

Source: Stephen Forrest, dean of research at the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke