by Paige Dietrich
Tetrad Property Group is the behind-the-scenes company that keeps Nebraska Innovation Campus running smoothly.
Tetrad Property Group is a commercial real estate development and management company that provides services from the beginning of an idea to managing the construction and then management of the finished property.
The University of Nebraska Board of Regents owns the land on which Nebraska Innovation Campus is located, but Tetrad Property Group owns the buildings.
“There are not a lot of research campuses where you find a developer that is willing to take the financial risk by owning all those buildings. That’s one of the reasons we think Nebraska Innovation Campus will be very successful as we move forward,” according to Jennifer Brinkman, the company’s director of communications.
“Our company is interested in building a better future for the clients and communities we serve; we are committed to making sure the project will make a difference in the places we are working. We are all Nebraskans,” Brinkman said.
About Nebraska Innovation Campus
The Nebraska Innovation Campus has 149 developable acres, she said. Tetrad Property Group was responsible from the beginning, to implement the infrastructure. The land on which Nebraska Innovation Campus is located was the site of the Nebraska State Fair until 2010, when it moved to Grand Island to accommodate the construction of Nebraska Innovation Campus. The land did not have utilities that could support an entire state-of-the-art research campus, so Tetrad Property Group worked with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, The Nebraska Innovation Campus Development Corporation and the city of Lincoln to put together a plan for an innovative infrastructure.
The infrastructure includes a Central Renewable Energy System (CRES), meets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Design Standards and includes energy-smart buildings. Tetrad will continue to be the development partner for the campus as it continues to grow.
Since there is a private sector (Tetrad) and a public sector (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), Nebraska Innovation Campus has many stakeholders. “There is a responsibility I believe we have to be able to explain how we’re working with the public sector, because there are tax dollars that are invested in this project,” Brinkman said.
Funding, building
Tetrad has provided nearly $94 million in financing and investment in these buildings, she said. There also has been money from the university’s funds, and then an investment of $25 million from the state, Brinkman added. “We feel like those partnerships are really enabling the university to speed up the investment in the campus.”
Tetrad will be involved for the entire 25-year plan for development of Nebraska Innovation Campus. “We’re excited about the kind of difference that we’re able to make because we really do think that Nebraska Innovation Campus is real key to economic development, not only for UNL or Lincoln, but really for the state of Nebraska,” she said. "It is executing partnerships across the state, and that’s really exciting to be a part of.”