NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Accelr8 has entered into a lease for a 15,096-square-foot facility in Tucson, Ariz., as well as an agreement that will provide it with a $1 million grant, the company disclosed in a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission today.
Accelr8 announced last week its plans to relocate to Tucson from Denver and to hire at least 65 workers in the next three years. The company said at the time that its facility will be at the Herbert K. Abrams Public Health Center and that it expects the space to be operational in early 2013 after the build-out of a wet laboratory space.
According to its SEC document filed today, the lease for the facility is for three years. Accelr8 also has an option to lease two additional areas with an aggregate size of 7,920 square feet. The lease stipulates that the company must employ at least 30 individuals with a median salary of at least $70,000 within 18 months after moving into its new space and the start of operations. Accelr8 must maintain the $70,000 median salary throughout the term of the lease, it said.
Also, this week Accelr8 entered into a grant agreement with the Arizona Commerce Authority, under which the company will receive a grant totaling $1 million. The grant is payable out of an escrow account in four installments upon Accelr8 achieving four milestones.
The first is that Accelr8 relocate to Arizona and create 15 qualified jobs, defined as a job that is permanent, full-time, new to Arizona, and with an average annual wage of at least $63,000. Accler8 must also offer health insurance and pay at least 65 percent of the health insurance premiums.
The second milestone is the creation of 30 qualified jobs, and the third milestone is the creation of 40 qualified jobs. The last milestone calls for the creation of 65 jobs and a capital investment of at least $4.52 million.
Accler8 is in the midst of a turnaround effort. In June it received an investment of $35 million and with it, a new CEO, Lawrence Mehren, a former executive at Roche Tissue Diagnostics, who replaced Tom Geimer.
The firm said last week that it eventually hopes to employ between 200 and 300 individuals. It currently has five employees.
Shares of Accelr8 on the New York Stock Exchange were down about 2 percent at $2.85 in Friday afternoon trading.