LOWELL — An economic development project that could generate billions in spending activity for the Merrimack Valley and create thousands of new jobs just reached a major milestone, when a Massachusetts tech giant declared it would expand its footprint into the Mill City.
Research and product development giant Draper Labs was announced Thursday as the “anchor tenant” for the new Lowell Innovation Network Corridor, or LINC.
Draper’s expansion into Lowell was announced by Gov Maura Healey along with U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan, UMass Lowell Chancellor Julie Chen, and Draper Labs President and CEO Jerry Wohletz.
According to Wholetz, Draper’s microelectronics division will expand north of Boston from their base in Cambridge, requiring them to double their 2,400 person workforce in the coming years. Healey described the $800 million development project as “the whole package.”
“This is the example of what is possible,” she said.
The commercial real estate development plan is a public-private partnership between UMass Lowell, the city, and private developers aimed at translating “the university’s success into economic development gains for Lowell and the Merrimack Valley.”
The LINC, according to the governor, will bring $3.6 billion in economic activity to the region, generate 1,300 new construction jobs, and over 2,000 permanent positions. It will come along with the 500 new housing units and generate up to $6 million per year in new tax revenue for the city.
According to information provided by the university, the project includes plans for construction of new “laboratories and office space as well as housing, restaurants, retail and entertainment venues.”
Healey, who has made housing a central focus of her administration, took the opportunity to stress the importance of pairing economic expansion with affordable housing.
“If there is one thing I want to lift up in this, it is that housing is incorporated into this. I don’t want to see kids in their 20s, or students or grad students, or young entrepreneurs or founders, go elsewhere simply because they can’t afford to live here or employees can’t afford to live here. This project takes care of that,” she said.
Draper, the non-profit research organization spun off from MIT and known for the development of the Apollo Guidance Computer used by NASA, chose Lowell over other potential sites because of UMass Lowell’s top-of-the-line microelectronics program and the company’s long history of working with research universities to match its need for highly skilled employees and their goals for innovation.
“Through this partnership we see an opportunity to expand the defense-industrial base, to support the microelectronics coalition hub through the federal Chips and Science Act, with specific focus on designing and delivering specialized, secure, and environmentally resilient microelectronics to protect national security assets,” Wholetz said.
Chen said that it would take some time before ground is broken on any new university buildings or housing but that LINC would include a “Phase 0″ which would allow interested businesses to join the project now and set up shop in the Wannalancit Mills.
“We anticipate groundbreaking next year,” she said. “But you will see companies moving in over this summer and this fall.”