Bayer CropScience announced Monday that it will invest $29.6 million in the expansion of its North American and global Seeds headquarters in Research Triangle Park.
This investment includes the construction of a 29,500-square-foot greenhouse as well as the necessary infrastructure and land development to support the state-of-the-art research facility and potential future growth.
The new facility will accommodate the company’s seed trait research, providing dedicated and isolated greenhouse space for insect testing, consolidated space for nematode trait research, and the capability for groundbreaking plant disease research.
This expansion marks the beginning of the development of land acquired in Dec. 2012.
Work on the greenhouse, or GH1, is scheduled to begin later this summer, with completion scheduled in 2015. GH1 is the second greenhouse constructed at Bayer CropScience’s campus in the past two years.
“The construction of this greenhouse represents our continued commitment to RTP and to leaving a better world for the industries and communities we serve through advanced agriculture and bioscience research and development,” said Jim Blome, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience LP.
Blome said the new facility will allow scientists and other researchers to discover innovative solutions to the world’s ever-changing agricultural issues, and will help feed a growing planet in need of plentiful food sources grown without threat from dangerous insects and other pests.
GH1 will replace Greenhouses 3 and 4, which have been in operation for more than 30 years. This new facility will serve to further promote R&D efforts. And, to accommodate staff growth, the project will also increase campus parking by 200 spaces and provide a new security hut.
The RTP site has experienced significant operational growth in recent years.
GH1 is the latest in a series of recent investments in the RTP area, including a $2.1 million, 6,000-square-foot North American Bee Care Center, which opened in April.
The company has a global workforce of 22,400 and is represented in more than 120 countries. To date, Bayer CropScience has approximately 700 employees based in Research Triangle Park.
