‘A multi-generational project.’ Life sciences campus in Gwinnett County begins vertical construction

Originally appeared on GPB.org.

The Rowen Convergence Center, seen here in a rendering, is envisioned as a research facility bringing together educational, government and corporate partners.

Credit: Rowen Center

A planned 2,000-acre life sciences research park is moving forward in metro Atlanta’s Gwinnett County.

The project, modeled after North Carolina’s “research triangle,” is halfway between universities in Athens and Atlanta.

The Rowen Center plans to bring together innovators in medicine, agriculture and the environment.

“The reason behind Rowen is that we need to have places that are intentionally bringing together government, industry and our higher education partners with a sustained vision to take on global challenges,” said Mason Ailstock, the project’s president and CEO.  “The vision is really to use this 2,000 acres as a place where we can cultivate the next generation workforce.”

Ailstock said land and Phase 1 spending amount to a $100 million investment so far. Its roads, trails and underground infrastructure are already in place.

Rowen announced this month that bidding has begun for the site’s first vertical construction, an anchor building for a future campus that was first conceived almost 20 years ago.

“This isn’t a one-year project,” Ailstock said. “This is a multi-decade, multi-generational project.”

Rowen’s first priority was accumulating the land it needed along U.S. Highway 29 in Dacula.

Ailstock said respecting that land is a core concept of the Phase 1 design.

“This is land that was stewarded by families in Georgia for generations and they sold their land because they believed in the vision of Rowen,” Ailstock said. “The theme that our architect worked with was ‘barns and bridges.’”

The Rowen village eventually is expected to include residential, retail, meeting and performance spaces, along with its research and academic facilities.

Once completed, it’s expected to have a huge economic impact in an 11-county region.

The Rowen Center says it could amount to 18,500 jobs by 2035.

The project’s partners so far include educational institutions such as Emory University, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia as well as companies like Intuitive Surgical, ACGO and Meissner.

Groundbreaking is expected in early 2026.