By Emily Hagedorn
Enquirer contributor

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS - An office, hotel and retail complex at the entrance of Northern Kentucky University would be the first piece in a larger plan to bring high-tech business to land surrounding the university.

The project has been dubbed the Technology Commercialization Triangle.

The hotel and office complex would join several large projects planned at NKU, including a new sports arena, student union and a major building renovation.

"I joke that the concrete is not likely to dry around here for a long time," said NKU President James Votruba."The university has moved to a new level."

The project started quietly about two years ago as a partnership between NKU, neighboring cities, landowners, business leaders and city officials. It would develop land for "ramp-up" technology businesses - businesses ready to expand, Votruba said.

Among many advantages to technology businesses, they double the economic return of traditional businesses, Holloway said.

"Technology infiltrates almost every business today," she said.

The project area is bordered by U.S. 27, the AA Highway and Interstate 275. The concept also includes building a connector between Interstate 275 at Three Mile Road and the AA Highway, Votruba said.

The hotel-office complex would be on 12 acres near NKU's Nunn Drive entrance. The land is owned by the NKU Foundation and is partly occupied by a Thriftway store, a strip mall and the foundation's office.

"Having a grocery store right at your entrance isn't the image you want to project," says Mike Baker, the interim executive director of the NKU Foundation, which is overseeing the project.

No cost estimates or completion dates have been set for the complex. Votruba said he envisions a conference center where professors and departments could host meetings of up to 100 people.

The project would accelerate development in Campbell County, bring more economic stability to Northern Kentucky, and provide new educational opportunities for NKU, said Amy Holloway, vice president of economic development at AngelouEconomics, a consulting firm.

Holloway issued a report earlier this month for Tri-ED, Northern Kentucky's economic development agency, detailing the potential value of high-tech business development.

"Northern Kentucky is going to attract more people from around the country, which it hasn't seen a lot of," Holloway said.

The area is close to other technology centers, such as the University of Kentucky and University of Cincinnati. And NKU leaders have an "entrepreneurial mindset," which includes willingness to form community partnerships and eagerness to grow, Holloway said.

While many traditional and technology manufacturing jobs are going overseas, information technology jobs are staying in the country, she said.

In Holloway's report, she advised involving local university presidents in economic development, finding sites for technology parks and improving networking among the region's high-tech workers and entrepreneurs.

She also urged tapping into young professionals - "the seed of any type of technology."

NKU graduates more information technology students than any other Kentucky university, according to Votruba.

Holloway said she sees no reasons against the development.

"We would always caution a community to not rush into things and make sure a market is there," she said. "I think the timing is right."

A community link

The complex would piggyback on a proposal to build a $53 million special events arena at NKU that could seat 8,000 to 10,000 people.

As far as the complex's looks, Baker said it must transition into the university.

Besides that, he is relying on developers to propose an interesting concept.

"I don't see a facility up there that is all red brick," he said.

Much of the timing is linked to the arena, which has yet to win funding from the Legislature.

If the special events center isn't approved, the project may be delayed, but it won't be scrapped, Baker said.

The complex is already behind schedule due to the economy, Votruba said.

"The economy's downturn has drawn this out longer than I had liked it to go," he said.

To pay for the project, NKU and the foundation plan to lease the land to potential developers.

"There's financial risk for the developers, but there is also the potential of financial rewards," Baker said.

The foundation plans to name a developer for the hotel and office project by November. A deadline for proposals comes in mid-April. So far, about 35 regional, state and national developers have shown interest in the project, Baker said.

Other NKU projects

NKU's five-year outlook includes:

A $53 million special events arena at NKU that could seat 8,000 to 10,000 people, pending approval from the state Legislature.

A $17.7 million renovation of the Old Science Building. This is NKU's No. 1 request to the Council on Postsecondary Education, said Joe Wind, executive director of government and community relations.

A $12 million athletic building across from Johns Hill Road next to I-275.

A $9.7 million parking garage, in addition to one just completed.

An $18 million student union in the parking lot next to Regents Hall, across from the current student union. Several years ago, students voted to add a $20 student building fee to their tuition to pay for the building.

A renovated campus lake area that adds two waterfalls, a bridge and boardwalk. Fidelity Investments is paying $1 million into the project, and NKU is matching that gift.

A $500,000 greenhouse to replace one on the top of the Old Science Building.

A $1.2 million Digital Science Center in the Natural Science Center, where students will use virtual reality to do things like travel through a beating heart, Wind said. U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell secured the money for NKU.