“At this time, no gate or road closures are currently expected from this activity; nor are major traffic impacts anticipated,” the base’s 88th Air Base Wing said in a statement on the wing’s web site.
All of the work is tied to an Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) development agreement with the federal government, making possible Synergy and Mills Development’s plans for eight commercial buildings over the next 10 years on nearly 44 acres across two parcels, known as Hilltop and Gerlaugh farms.
“We are getting access to our parcel,” said John Kopilchack, Synergy vice president. “It’s actually happening on schedule.”
At this point, he envisions the first building of the eight planned buildings opening late in 2027.
But already, initial conversations are happening with prospective tenants who want to work at the new site.
“Industry, academia and government are all converging and working together in what the Air Force dubs that ‘great power competition,’” referring to the Pentagon’s focus on China and Russia.
“We have a lot of interest in the market place so far,” he added. “We don’t have anybody to announce at the moment.”
In May, in preparation for the project, a fence was moved near the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), National Road, and Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) facility 620 on Wright-Patterson’s Area B, the wing said at the time.
Through EULs, the federal government allows private businesses to make use of federal property for a defined but extended period of time, usually decades.
The wing said its Civil Engineering Group continues to work with the Air Force’s real estate program to facilitate the EUL, “which is becoming a key tool for the Department of Defense.”
In partnership with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center in San Antonio, the lease was officially signed in December and announced in February.
The office park will be called the “Convergence Research Center,” located minutes from much of Synergy’s previous work on Pentagon Boulevard in Beavercreek.
It is expected to eventually be home to 2,500 jobs, advocates said.
“Undoubtedly, this is the most exciting day in our 42-year history,” Jerad Barnett, president and chief executive of Synergy, said earlier this year when the plan was first publicly unveiled.
Site preparation work continues in Area B in an area bounded by AFIT, National Road and AFRL building 620 as Synergy makes progress with the development, the base said.
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