EAST LANSING — The MSU Research Foundation, a research and development nonprofit helping to fund research, technology and start-up efforts at Michigan State University, plans to spend $20 million to establish a new headquarters on campus.
The property at 195 Crescent Road, formerly MSU Federal Credit Union’s headquarters from 1971 to 2008,, is currently home to the MSU Innovation Center.
The foundation is purchasing the 60,000-square-foot building from MSU for $6.5 million, said Dave Washburn, its CEO. Another approximately $14 million will be spent on its renovation and a two-story, 8,000-square-foot mass timber addition, he said.
The project will utilize a $25,000 Michigan Mass Timber Catalyst Grant, as mass timber will be used as the primary structural material for the building addition.
The Rosenberg Center, which is expected to open in 2027, will serve as the foundation’s headquarters but also as a multi-tenant home for a half dozen tenants, expected to include a mix of start-ups, some of the foundation’s corporate partners, and university-affiliated groups. Between 100 and 200 people are expected to work on site.
Officials with the foundation and at MSU said the new headquarters will boost innovation and opportunities for collaboration between both entities, companies, investors and entrepreneurs, creating an innovation hub in East Lansing.
“Innovation can be 100% accidental,” said Jeff Parks, the foundation’s Director of Research Parks. “It can also be proactively pushed forward, and I would hope that future jobs for our state happen because the space is made available for companies to be able to create those future jobs. That’s helping to grow our state’s economy, helping to attract and retain the talent, but it’s also really ultimately going to enable those things to happen. Whether it creates them or not, that is to be determined, but it will certainly enable them.”
A headquarters, home for innovation
Created in the early 1970s by Dr. Clifton R. Wharton Jr., MSU’s 14th president and the first Black president of a major U.S. public research university, the foundation was established as a mechanism for achieving goals around economic development, Washburn said.
“We’re employees of the foundation, but we serve the university,” he said. The foundation also works with outside companies and startups.
The new headquarters will be named after Dr. Barnett Rosenberg, who discovered cisplatin at MSU, leading to a key cancer therapeutic. The royalties from the licensing of the drug have helped fund the foundation’s investments in research, entrepreneurship, and innovation for decades.
The Rosenberg Center will be completely renovated to allow for event and office space before it opens in the first half of 2027, Smith said.
“It’ll have quite a few small offices for our startup companies and corporate partners and then some traditional offices kind of baked into the middle of the building for our use, MSU’s use, and some of our partners’ use,” he said.
That includes the first confirmed tenant, Fraunhofer USA. The research and development organization, which works with industry, universities, and state and federal governments to help them adopt and utilize new technologies, will move its U.S. headquarters from Plymouth to the Rosenberg Center.
Fraunhofer USA has had a relationship with MSU since 2002, said Russell Zarras, the nonprofit’s strategic initiatives director, but the move to East Lansing is aimed at strengthening the organization’s collaboration with MSU.
“They are a key partner, we believe, to our success both for the last 20 years and moving forward,” Zarras said. “We have a great relationship with MSU and the foundation and we believe that if we are even closer ingrained there, that we’ll be able to go after larger opportunities together.”
Smith said the foundation is still securing leases for office space at the Rosenberg Center with other tenants.
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Long-term impacts expected
“Michigan State University’s greatest strength is the breadth of expertise across our research enterprise and the opportunities that creates for interdisciplinary collaboration,” MSU Vice President for Research and Innovation Dr. Shashank Priya said in a news release about the new facility. “Facilities like the Rosenberg Center play an important role in creating the environments where researchers and partners can come together to explore new ideas, build connections, and advance discovery.”
The long-term impact of its new headquarters will hopefully be felt throughout the Lansing area and statewide, Washburn said.
“Really, when I think about this, there’s no real central hub for innovation in Greater Lansing and I think that this facility should be able to serve this purpose,” he said.
“As a public research university, Michigan State creates impact through the strength of its people, partnerships, and shared sense of purpose,” MSU Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Laura Lee McIntyre said in a news release. “The Rosenberg Center reflects a long-term investment in the collaborative environment that helps students, faculty, researchers, and partners come together to advance that mission.”
Renovations and construction of the building’s mass timber addition could take up to a year to complete, Washburn said. That work is expected to begin this summer.
Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X @GrecoatLSJ.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU Research Foundation plans $20M headquarters in East Lansing
Reporting by Rachel Greco, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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By Rachel Greco, Lansing State Journal | USA TODAY Network
