NASA Eyes Central Florida Research Park

ORLANDO-It’s far from a done deal but people in a position to know tell GlobeSt.com the city’s 26-year-old, 1,027-acre Central Florida Research Park will be selected by June as the home of NASA’s new business complex in east Orange County, next to the University of Central Florida’s 35,000-student campus.

Although officials at NASA are also looking at comparable sites for an estimated 100,000-sf facility in Texas, Virginia, Alabama, Ohio and Mississippi, GlobeSt.com sources say the federal agency is expected to go with the Orlando site because “it feels it can cut the best deal here” for taxpayers, either on a leasing or build-to-suit basis.

NASA officials will confirm only that they are looking for a property large enough to consolidate 10 separate national offices now each doing payroll, purchase orders and general administrative work. The consolidated facility, to be called the NASA Shared Services Center, would employ 500 workers at an average annual salary of $50,000.