The Arizona State University Research Park is a business and recreational park that is operated by Arizona State University. Located in the city of Tempe, Arizona, United States; the park sits on eastern half of the square mile bordered on the north by East Elliot Road, on the east by the Arizona State Highway: Route Loop 101 Price Freeway, on the south by East Warner Road, and the west by South McClintock Drive.Dr. Morgan R. Olsen, Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer at ASU, is the current President of the ASU Research Park Board.Sunbelt Holdings has provided asset management services to the ASU Research Park since 1992.Park HistoryIn 1956, the 320-acre Jones farm was acquired with funds from the Arizona State College Foundation and was utilized by the college as an experimental farm. In 1979, the University disbanded its agricultural program and began to formulate a plan for re-use of the farm. The actual formation of the Research Park took several years, and required collaboration by a number of governmental agencies. Enabling legislation was enacted in April 1983, authorizing the use of improvement bonds for infrastructure, and prescribing the formation of a park authority.In July 1983, the Arizona Board of Regents authorized ASU to form a not-for-profit research park corporation, and in May 1984, under the leadership of ASU President J. Russell Nelson and Dean Roland Haden of the College of Engineering, the experimental farm became the ASU Research Park. Municipal improvement bonds were issued by the City of Tempe to construct the Park’s infrastructure, with repayment generated from long-term ground leases of park land. The infrastructure improvements included streets, utilities, landscaping and lake system that users of the Park enjoy today.
