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Georgia Tech – Technology Enterprise Park (TEP)

Dynamic research facilities that drive university and industry innovations

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At Georgia Tech, life science research is not just a priority – it is an imperative.

Life science research improves public health, an outcome that supports the university’s mission. It also helps Georgia Tech commercialize intellectual property through interactions between the university community and private companies.

But in 2005, companies emerging from Georgia Tech’s biotechnology and life science incubators were leaving Atlanta. There simply was not enough space to grow.

Georgia Tech needed a facility that encouraged those companies to stay. The problem? The university did not have enough land to expand its research enterprise.

Georgia Tech turned to TUFF, who responded with a loan.

After identifying a land opportunity on Atlanta’s west side, Georgia Tech called on TUFF to assist. TUFF loaned Georgia Tech the capital it needed to purchase the land. In addition, TUFF started retrofitting existing facilities that would become part of the research park and began development of a new, high-tech wet lab facility.

The result was Technology Enterprise Park, or “TEP,” a planned 600,000 square-foot campus that houses biotechnology companies, research facilities, preclinical testing labs, and Georgia Tech’s Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Today, TEP is the region’s premier biotech research park and boasts a dynamic community of students, researchers, and entrepreneurs. Located in one of Atlanta’s most underserved neighborhoods, TEP expands community opportunity via investments from life sciences, medical devices, and pharmaceutical companies.

TEP 1 Research Building

To ensure on-time delivery prior to bond closing, TUFF invested $18 million in the first facility at Technology Enterprise Park, TEP 1. Thanks to this investment – and TUFF’s investment-grade credit rating, TEP 1 opened in May 2007.

TUFF led the development effort for TEP, from renovating and integrating existing facilities to designing and constructing new ones. To support TEP 1’s research labs, which include Atlanta’s only multi-tenant wet lab facility, TUFF designed the facility to include advanced mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and security equipment.

Other areas of TEP 1 provide office space to companies that advance from Georgia Tech’s business incubators.

Facility Specifications

  • 5 stories
  • 128,000 total square feet
  • 17,000 square feet of lab/research space
  • 5,000 square feet clean rooms
  • 106,000 square feet of office space

T3 at TEP

T3, a unit of  the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI), is a world leader in medical technology innovation. A 501(c)(3) partner of Georgia Tech, GCMI supports T3 researchers on a variety of initiatives. The region’s most advanced facility for medical product innovation, T3 accommodates testing for cardiovascular and orthopedic devices and training for physicians, medical residents, and engineers.

T3 also serves the greater mission of Georgia Tech and Technology Enterprise Park by providing employment to graduates, laboratories for public and private-sector researchers, and opportunities for cross-enterprise collaboration and innovation.

Facility Specifications

  • 7 Procedure areas
  • 3 Operating rooms
  • 1 Fixed cath lab