Fitzsimons Innovation Community strives to expand hub for science and healthcare

AURORA | What Aurora officials say is an industrious Fitzsimons Innovation Community could also become a community where scientists don’t just work, but also live and play while exploring bio and life science.

“Aurora saw the vision that said this could be home to healthcare, bio and life science center for the state of Colorado, and today, we boast one of the largest bioscience communities in the nation,” Kelly Brough, the executive director for the Fitzsimons Innovation Committee told Aurora lawmakers at a recent update during the study session April 7. 

The Committee is formerly the Fitzimons Redevelopment Authority, which was in charge of converting the former Army hospital base into a campus for medical education, research and hospitals.

On a 600-acre campus at Fitzsimons, which includes the Rocky Mountain Regional Veterans Affairs Medical Center, UC Health, The Children’s Hospital, Colorado University Anschutz campus with more than 40 academic programs and the Fitzsimmons Innovation Community, is responsible for about 184 acres. An estimated 28,000 people currently work across the campus, Brough said. 

“This is part of the northern part of the campus, which is really the (Fitzsimons Innovation Committee) or Fitzsimons redevelopment area, and what it utilizes is the Sand Creek area in an incredible way,” Mayor Mike Coffman said. “It’s the revised master plan.”

The Fitzsimons Innovation Community has plans for apartments, a luxury hotel and restaurants, and the ability to host more than 80 startup companies, with many of them founded by researchers or faculty from institutions, even the Colorado School of Mines, Brough said. 

Start-ups and companies renting inside of the lab spaces have access to clinical trials and medical experts, affordable labs and office space.

“These companies don’t have a lot of money, and they really need that support of people who are helping them start the company, get to (clinical) trials, and see if their drugs or their life-saving technology can actually work,” Brough said. 

Aurora is the most diverse city in Colorado, which is critical, proponents of the expanded Fitzsimons mission say, because so many of the companies on the campus are trying to address the inequities seen in healthcare, Brough said. 

The community already has 415,000 square feet dedicated to lab, office and research space, with 90,000 square feet set aside for manufacturing, Brough said. While that facility is unoccupied for now, Brough said there’s been a lot of interest in the past month from potential tenants.

Despite reported slow growth in bioscience and life sciences industries, the Innovation Community is close to 90% occupancy, according to a city report.

The Innovation Community needs to reinvent itself, too, Brough said.

“We’re increasing density,” Brough said. “Part of the challenge we face is that when companies want to build a lab or bring their company, they want to be in a place that’s really vibrant, where their employees can eat in a restaurant and there’s retail.”

Future development will include more parks, public art and gathering spaces. The Fitzsimons Committee is also committing to a 1% investment in the arts and open space to ensure that it’s a place where people want to live, not just work.

“So that people in our community want to live there as much as they want to work there, where scientists are bumping into each other when they’re walking down our streets,” Brough said. “We really want to soften the edges so that our surrounding community sees this as their campus, too, where they’re coming and going, where we’re offering to host community events and activities.”

In collaboration with Aurora Public Schools, the Fitzsimons Committee is also helping shape the next generation of healthcare professionals. A new high school focused on healthcare is opening across the street from the campus.

“I think our partnership will be seamless, where I intend every one of those kids to come work on our campus and help support our future,” Brough said.

Brough said she hopes to strengthen the relationship with the other healthcare organizations by looking into a shared energy system or enhancing mobility services. For example, she said the Fitzsimons Committee is exploring the use of autonomous vehicles to shuttle employees across the campus. 

“I’m excited for the Master Plan process to come forward to council, because I think it’s really going with Kelly’s leadership and board,” Councilmember Curtis Gardner said. “It’s really going to allow us to take advantage of what this campus could be unique all across the US.”