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NCR site offers great potential for UDRI, area leaders say

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By Dave Larsen, Staff Writer Updated 1:00 AM Wednesday, October 14, 2009

DAYTON — While the University of Dayton remained mum Tuesday about its plans for NCR Corp.'s world headquarters, others said it would be a great site to develop new companies and technology.

State Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, said making the site a business incubator that commercializes technology developed at the University of Dayton Research Institute "is an idea that could generate a lot of energy and also is viable."

Jim Leftwich, president and chief executive of the Dayton Development Coalition, said an incubator would bring together startup businesses and potential customers.

"I think what UD is trying to do is build a world-class campus," Leftwich said.

NCR Corp.'s world headquarters property offers plenty of room for the University of Dayton Research Institute to grow.

The university on Monday, Oct. 12, confirmed it is negotiating with NCR to purchase the company's headquarters building at 1700 S. Patterson Blvd. and surrounding 105 acres. NCR plans to move its headquarters to Georgia.

UD and NCR officials declined Tuesday to elaborate on the negotiations, and a UD spokeswoman declined to discuss when a deal could be completed and what UD officials have in mind for the property.

UD's business incubator and technology efforts, roughly 90 percent of which is conducted at UDRI, has attracted a record $96.5 million in sponsored research during the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to institute spokeswoman Pamela Gregg.

The federal government accounts for 80 percent of the university's sponsored research, she said. Federal sponsors include the departments of Defense and Energy and the National Institutes of Health.

About 10 percent of the sponsorship comes from state and local governments. Industry sponsors have included General Electric, Boeing and NanoSperse, Gregg said.

Major research areas include materials, energy and environment, aeropropulsion, structures, mechanical systems, sensors and human factors.

The 400-person enterprise conducts research in more than 180,000 square feet of laboratory and office space on UD's campus, as well as at several remote sites. NCR's headquarters offers more than 481,300 square feet of space.

Mickey McCabe, the university's vice president for research and UDRI's executive director, declined comment.

Still, UD ownership of NCR headquarters would reduce property tax revenue for Dayton Public Schools, said Joe Lacey, a school board member and finance committee chairman.

"It becomes tax-free property if it's owned by an institution like UD," he said.

The Montgomery County Auditor's Office values the NCR property at $31.1 million. The loss of NCR's property taxes would cost Dayton schools $700,000 annually, based on what it received in 2009, Lacey said.

The 105-acre parcel would include NCR Old River Park, according to Brady Kress, president and chief executive of Dayton History, which has an agreement with NCR to operate the recreational facility.

The organization, which also operates Carillon Historical Park, Hawthorn Hill and Patterson Homestead, has a good relationship with UD, Kress said. "I think there are a lot of opportunities, if they end up being the owner, for us to work together," he said.

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