I wanted to share with you the following article that was published by the Times Union:

$184M centerpiece of 2020 plan needs Cuomo approval

By Larry Rulison | Published 10:37 pm , Thursday, April 9, 2015

Albany

A $184 million high-tech research and development facility being planned by the University at Albany may now be built at the Harriman State Office Building Campus instead of the school's main uptown campus next door.

The new 225,000-square-foot building, known as the Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurship Complex, or ETEC, is the centerpiece of UAlbany's NYSUNY 2020 plan submitted to the state in 2012 under former UAlbany President George Philip. UAlbany received a $35 million grant for the project.

UAlbany's president, Robert Jones, announced during a speech last week that it made more sense to build ETEC at the Harriman complex where the university was also planning to locate its new College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity.

Jones said he is just awaiting permission from Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Although the state had allocated $15 million to UAlbany to house the new homeland security college, Jones said putting the college at ETEC would build on "synergies" between the two.

ETEC's focus will include forensic science and cybersecurity, climate science and biotechnology, all of which will be studied at the college.

"This will delay the opening of the ETEC building by up to 18 months, but the long-term gains are worth it," Jones said during his spring presidential address.

The ETEC building would be built on a 12-acre site at Harriman. UAlbany spokesman Karl Luntta said the site would also be ideal because it is near the New York State Police headquarters on the Harriman campus.

Under UAlbany's NYSUNY 2020 plan, the school is hoping to add 187 new faculty positions and increase research funding by $117 million.

ETEC would house private companies interested in research in several key areas, including climate science, biotechnology, forensic science and cybersecurity and data analytics.

Once ETEC is completed, it would become home to UAlbany's Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences and its Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, which is located at the CESTM building at SUNY Polytechnic Institute off Fuller Road.

It is unclear if the National Weather Service's Albany office, which is also at CESTM, would also move to ETEC.

Luntta did not immediately know if they would, and the National Weather Service did not respond to a request for comment.

lrulison@timesunion.com •  518-454-5504  • @larryrulison