An unnamed firm appears to be interested in building a 200,000-square-foot building at the long-delayed biotechnology business park north of Rochester. The Star Tribune reports the company would bring roughly 200 biotech jobs to Pine Island after the first phase of construction. Project officials hope to break ground early next year. City administrator for Pine Island told the Minneapolis-based newspaper that he is cautiously optimistic.
The Business Journal notes this is not the first interested tenant, but those deals have not gone through.
Elk Run's developer, California-based Tower Investments, first proposed the $1 billion biotech campus in southeast Minnesota five years ago. The project has had several false starts and missed deadlines since then.
Tower Investments also owes more than $740,000 in back property taxes and penalties, which must be paid before moving forward with any construction.
