University City is coming for Boston and Silicon Valley’s reputation as the tech hubs of the country.
The development just north of Penn, uCity Square, recently broke ground on a new Science Center building at 3675 Market Street. The new building includes laboratories as well as other educational and retail spaces.
Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli and Vice Provost of Research Dawn Bonnell, are on the Board of Directors for the Science Center, which they say will provide opportunities for Penn in University City.
“One of Penn’s strategic goals is to strengthen our efforts to support our innovative faculty and students,” Carnaroli said in an email to the Daily Pennsylvanian. “This is demonstrated through our investments in the Penn Center for Innovation, the Pennovation Center at the Pennovation Works campus and the President’s innovation prizes. The plans of the Science Center help to further strengthen the broader innovation ecosystem we are fostering here in Philadelphia as the local economy transitions from brawn to brains.”
University City was recently named the ‘hottest tech submarket’ in the country by the Commercial Real Estate Services. Carnaroli said he believes the Science Center will help to further solidify this reputation. The opening is planned for 2018, and it will expand upon many of the existing Science Center buildings.
“uCity Square will definitely continue to draw attention to Philadelphia as a place to connect in University City and Philadelphia as a whole,” Carnaroli added in the email.
Bonnell agreed with this statement, and said that she is excited to see the opportunities that the Science Center brings to University City in the future.
“The vibrant ecosystem developed here is poised to take discoveries that occur at Penn and in the region into the market place,” she said in an email to the DP. “Penn faculty and students both drive the evolution of this ecosystem and benefit from it. Partnerships with the Science Center are an essential component.”
Correction: A previous version of this article said that uCity Square was opening a new Science Center. In fact, it is opening a new Science Center building on its campus. The DP regrets the error.
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