JOHNSON CITY — Binghamton University has plans to build a $60 million, 70,000-square-foot School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences on property near UHS Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City.

“By far, the most important factor was its location, close to the hospital,” says Harvey Stenger, president of Binghamton University.

He spoke to the Business Journal News Network on Oct. 7.

The university purchased a 5-acre property at 96 Corliss Ave. where Indian Valley Industries, Inc. (IVI) currently operates, says Stenger.

IVI manufactures and supplies products relating to environmental protection, erosion control, and the containment of both air and waterborne pollutants, according to its website.

The site was also once home to a manufacturing plant that the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company operated.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sept. 25 announced the property purchase during a visit to Binghamton University.

The university worked with the Town of Union, City of Johnson City, and the Broome County Industrial Development Agency and issued a request-for-proposals seeking a willing property seller.

“Looking at the different locations and the different prices, we decided 96 Corliss Ave. was the best decision for us,” Stenger says in the interview.

IVI, the firm that currently operates on the property, was the willing seller. Binghamton University bought the property for about $2 million, according to Stenger.

“The [company] felt that the price was fair and they would be able to accommodate [an eventual relocation] and continue their business,” he adds.

Cuomo allocated $10 million in capital resources to support initial planning and development costs, including the acquisition and site preparation, his office said. 

The governor called the allocation “a down- payment on a brighter and more prosperous future for the region.”

Beyond the property purchase price, Stenger figures demolition costs could range from $500,000 to $1.5 million and the design cost could be as much as $5 million. Any remaining funds from the initial $10 million allocation will help pay for the start of the construction work, he adds.

“When we made the offer to the governor to do this project, we anticipated and we’re expecting that the state will pay for the entire project of $60 million,” says Stenger.

Construction on the new facility will begin next spring, with completion expected in 2018.

New York expects the construction project to support “hundreds” of construction jobs.  Once it opens, the state projects the School of Pharmacy will create more than 100 new private-sector jobs annually and generate an annual regional-economic impact of about $100 million. 

“This School of Pharmacy will further distinguish Binghamton as a world-class educational institution, provide research and learning opportunities to hundreds of students and add jobs to the local community, and I am very excited to see it get underway in Johnson City,” Cuomo said in the news release.

Purpose
Binghamton University has “traditional and excellent” expertise in the areas of pharmaceutical sciences in its biomedical engineering and biochemistry departments and in its psychology and chemistry departments, Stenger contends. 

“The idea here would be to add that core interdisciplinary degree, the doctor of pharmacy, as well as a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences to build a research program around what we already have,” he says.

Binghamton University seeks to enroll 320 students in the doctor of pharmacy program and 60 students in the Ph.D. program once the new school reaches full capacity. 

The school also sees the doctor of pharmacy degree as a “very highly demanded” degree, he adds.

Stenger anticipates the school’s graduates will pursue positions at pharmaceutical companies as well as retail-pharmacy positions. 

With the school’s proximity to UHS Wilson Medical Center, Binghamton students will have the opportunity to conduct clinical trials at the facility, he says. 

Stenger also sees the new pharmacy school as a “strong economic driver” for the Binghamton area.

He notes that a one-mile radius around any property that the State University of New York owns is available for benefits in the START-UP NY program. The program helps an entrepreneur start, expand, or relocate qualified company in a tax-free zone.

Stenger is also hoping the facility might draw some larger pharmaceutical companies to the Binghamton area under the START-UP NY program.

“The largest pharmaceutical companies are located in New Jersey and Philadelphia, and I think START-UP NY might be able to attract some of them to cross the border into the Southern Tier,” he adds.        

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com