Title
Special Use Permit to Allow Food Testing and Research Laboratories at the Gainesville Technology Entrepreneurship Center (Cornerstone, Formerly GTEC) Property (B)
Petition PB-16-111 SUP. City Plan Board. Special use permit to allow food testing and research laboratories at the Gainesville Technology Entrepreneurship Center (Cornerstone, formerly GTEC) property. Zoned MU-1: 8-30 units/acre mixed use low intensity. Located at 2153 SE Hawthorne Road.
Explanation
This is a request for a Special Use Permit to allow food testing and research to occur within a proposed new building slated for construction at the Cornerstone campus (FKA Gainesville Technology Entrepreneurship Center (GTEC)) located at 2153 SE Hawthorne Road. The Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency is currently in the final stages of obtaining development approval for the future expansion and infill development of the existing campus (Petition DB-14-81 SPA). The expansion will occur in two phases. The first phase of the master plan includes the construction of a new 2-story 20,020 square foot office building (Building B) located east of the existing GTEC building (Building A) along Hawthorne road and two additional buildings (Buildings C: 10,000 sq. ft. and D: 17,000 sq. ft.) located near the southeastern corner of the site on SE 8th Avenue. Exhibit C contains the approved Cornerstone project master plan for reference purposes. The proposed Special Use Permit is to allow the use of the future Buildings C and D by Mérieux NutriSciences Corporation a food quality testing and research company specializing in offering contracted testing, auditing, consulting, sensory, training and research services for the food industry. Mérieux recently acquired ABC Research Holding Co., a Gainesville-based food testing and consulting services company founded in 1967. The business is expanding from its current location near Archer Road to the Cornerstone campus in partnership with the Community Redevelopment Agency. The facility will offer nutritional testing services as well as food research and consulting services to companies throughout the nation’s southeast region.
The property currently has a Mixed-use low intensity district (MU-1). The MU-1 zoning district allows other uses such as assembly, manufacturing, and other light industrial uses through a Special Use Permit approval process with additional design and compatibility criteria (see Exhibit B for the MU-1 zoning district).
Fiscal Note
None.
Recommendation
Staff to City Plan Board - Staff recommends approval of Petition PB-16-111 SUP.