FAIRBORN — Private developer Synergy Building Systems has signed a 50-year lease to construct a new defense and research campus inside the gates of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
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The project has plans for up to nine buildings designed to house defense contractors and academic researchers.
The agreement, known as an Enhanced-Use Lease, allows private industry innovators to work closely with Air Force leaders.
Synergy plans to build at least five of these facilities off National Road to encourage real-time collaboration and the sharing of ideas.
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Jerad Barnett, president of Synergy Building Systems, addressed the scale of the investment in the Dayton area.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Barnett said. “That is a lot of eggs in one basket in Dayton, Ohio.”
The developer is betting that defense contractors will find value in being closer to their primary customers on the base.
Barnett said the nature of defense work requires specific infrastructure that makes remote work impossible for many firms.
“They can’t work from home, they need classified environments, they need classified telecoms, and I think that’s the uniqueness of defense space,” Barnett said.
Col. Dustin Richardson, the 88th Air Base Wing commander, said the campus will provide a foundation for future aerospace developments.
“It’s going to foster the collaboration,” Richardson said. “It’s going to continue to build on the foundation of innovation in aerospace that stretches all the way back to the Wright Brothers.”
Regional leaders also noted the potential for local economic growth.
Rep. Mike Turner, a congressman for Dayton, said the project will support both military missions and the private sector.
“It’ll grow jobs that are existing in the base for missions that are here at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, but also private industry jobs,” Turner said.
Gov. Mike DeWine said the proximity of researchers and contractors to the base will help the United States maintain a competitive edge.
“What that means is more technology quicker,” DeWine said. “quicker to the warfighter and the quicker to the warfighter, the better we can compete with China and Russia.”
Construction on the first building is scheduled to begin next Monday. The project is expected to follow an 18-month construction timeline.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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