By Paul Gattis | [email protected]

HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology is planning an expansion of its Huntsville campus, a project that will create at least 100 new jobs.

The city council on Thursday approved the city entering into a project development agreement with HudsonAlpha that will obligate the city to provide up to $2 million of financial assistance to help offset construction costs.

The expansion will be in the form of a 108,000 square foot building that will house the global headquarters of Discovery Life Sciences as well as the HudsonAlpha Center for Plant Genomics & Sustainable Agriculture’s Greenhouse and Learning Laboratories.

Construction has been underway since late 2020 but rising construction and labor costs along with supply chain issues and inflation have contributed to the project becoming more expensive than originally planned.

HudsonAlpha, a non-profit institute funded through both public and private money, is considered one of Huntsville’s crown jewels with its array of high-tech research. The institute, founded in 2008, has grown to include more than 1,100 employees, 14 research laboratories and 48 biotech companies. HudsonAlpha has a $3.2 billion economic impact in Alabama.