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December 7th, 2017
Harvard files Allston plan for Enterprise Research Campus
ERC envisioned as regional innovation hub for applied research and entrepreneurship
December 7, 2017 - Harvard University launched the initial development phase of a new regional innovation hub on Thursday with the filing of regulatory plans for the Enterprise Research Campus (ERC) in Allston.
Harvard’s vision for the ERC involves myriad uses, including as a location for private businesses, nonprofit organizations, incubators, startups, and social enterprises pursuing opportunities for applied research and entrepreneurship.
The plan also envisions the ERC as a home to both residential units and a hotel and conference area. The area is intended to generate and implement new and innovative ideas to improve the world in practical and tangible ways, and to foster new levels of collaboration among students and faculty, academic communities and their counterparts in the private sector, entrepreneurs and investors, and local companies and global entities.
The University, which filed a detailed Planned Development Area (PDA) Master Plan with the Boston Planning and Development Agency, says the ERC presents an unparalleled opportunity to enhance the power of collaboration among the area’s academic institutions, hospitals, and research-based industries, and to profoundly impact the regional economy.
The 36-acre site is across the street from Harvard Business School (HBS), the i-lab, the Launch Lab, and the Life Lab, and will be near the new Artlab, which is in the permitting process. The site is also adjacent to the new Science and Engineering Complex that will house the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), and is scheduled to open in the fall of 2020.
“The Enterprise Research Campus holds the promise to bolster the remarkable strengths of Harvard and the Greater Boston region in the life sciences and in areas such as bioengineering, imaging, and robotics,” said Harvard President Drew Faust. “Bringing those strengths together at the center of one of the most innovative research areas in the country will help generate new insights that will improve the world in practical and tangible ways, and inspire collaboration and creativity that will launch some of the most extraordinary ideas, careers, and companies of the century.”
Press Contact: Kirsten Mabry | (617) 495-4157