Money sets a new direction for growth of Carolina North.

• Position: Triangle

Carolina North is expected to showcase the UNC Chapel Hill's research, entrepreneurship and academic capabilities, but officials have struggled to get the 228-acre campus off the drawing board and under construction. Now its executive director says the first two buildings in the plans will be delayed indefinitely or scrapped.

Approved in 2007, Carolina North is intended as a counterpart to N.C. State University's Centennial Campus, which brings together university, government and private-industry researchers. Planners expected to build 2.5 million square feet within 15 years. Its first building was to be the Innovation Center, an 80,000-square-foot technology-transfer incubator. But its developer, Pasadena, Calif.-based Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc., backed out this fall, citing difficulty financing the $22 million project. Jack Evans, Carolina North's executive director, says it likely won't be built. "That project, like a number of other development projects, was adversely affected by the change in the financial markets."

Another sticking point was how much space the university would occupy. Evans says it originally planned to use about a third. Discussions about increasing that commitment never produced results. By contrast, Wake Forest University Health Services recently agreed to occupy 85% of a research building at Piedmont Triad Research Park to secure a development deal. "In these times, when a developer has to be concerned about cash flow to cover debt services, 85% occupancy seems to be a very attractive position," Evans says.

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