Opening ceremonies were held Tuesday for the new Wake Forest Biotech Place.
The new state-of-the-art biotechnology research and innovation center is the largest capitol investment in Winston-Salem’s history. It will employ approximately 450 people.
The center is located in Piedmont Triad Research Park, off U.S. 52, in two former R.J. Reynolds tobacco warehouses that have been renovated into modern biotech research labs.
It is located at the corner of Fifth Street and North Patterson Avenue and made of two former R.J. Reynolds tobacco facilities which underwent an 18-month $100 million renovation.
Gov. Bev Perdue, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Mayor Allen Joines. Dr. John McConnell, chief executive of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, and Doug Edgeton, were expected to speak at the facility’s opening.
Wake Forest Baptist said it will open the 242,000-square-foot facility to the public from 2 to 4:45 p.m. Friday.
The facility is being developed by Wexford Science and Technology LLC of Baltimore, who is leasing the facility to Wake Forest Baptist, which oversees the park.
The largest tenant is Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Others include Carolina Liquid Chemistries and Allegacy Federal Credit Union.
