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 Building Facilities Virginia Tech plans to reveal details today of a project to buildits first permanent research facility in Northern Virginia, givingthe university a research base near major government and privategrant awarders. The announcement is scheduled for a noon luncheon in Arlingtonpreceding the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors quarterly meetingstoday and Friday in Northern Virginia. The entire project, including acquisition and construction of aseven-story, 144,000-square-foot building, is expected to costabout $90 million, said Ray Smoot, the foundation's chief operatingofficer. The Virginia Tech Foundation is poised to purchase land in Ballstonthis summer for the project. The facility, scheduled for completionby late 2010 or early 2011, will allow Tech to consolidate severalof its Northern Virginia research facilities that now operate inleased space. The building site is three blocks from the National ScienceFoundation, four blocks from the Office of Naval Research and fiveblocks from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency -- thecentral research and development organization of the Department ofDefense. About 250 faculty, staff and graduate students will workthere, said Jim Bohland, executive director of Tech's NationalCapital Region. "You become part of that high-profile group of science players,"Bohland said. "It puts us very near to a lot of our customers." The board asked the foundation -- a private, nonprofit entity thatmanages the university's private donations -- to buy property forthe project in 2006. The process of getting local governmentapproval for construction of the building held up the acquisition,Smoot said. The Arlington County Board of Supervisors approved itunanimously in February. While the new building would be a first for Tech research, theuniversity already has a presence in Northern Virginia. Thefoundation owns three buildings in Alexandria used for graduatestudy, as well as the Equine Medical Center in Leesburg. VirginiaTech and the University of Virginia jointly own a Northern VirginiaCenter in Falls Church, which will host the board of visitorsmeeting. Bioinformatics, public health simulations and medical informaticswill be among the fields of study at the new facility, Bohlandsaid. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and Tech's Institute ofCritical Technology and Applied Science will also have a presencethere. Establishing a permanent research facility in the area will alsomake it easier for Tech to work with other colleges, Bohland said.Georgetown University and Tech offer a joint master's degree inbiomedical technology development and management and a jointprogram in drug discovery and development.