Park officials hope the building will open by the third quarter of 2021. The projected cost of $52 million includes expenses for furniture, lab equipment and the new parking deck.

The site of the planned building is currently a two-acre, outdoor parking area for the Bio+Tech Park, which stretches over a 34-acre campus that houses about 70 businesses, nonprofits, government laboratories and research institutes as well as the administrative functions of Virginia Commonwealth University and VCU Health.

Startups would pay a membership fee to have space in the building, though the exact amount is still being determined.

“We need to continue to make sure it is priced at a point that we can support our [startup business] founders,” said Roth, adding that one goal is to help entrepreneurs remain in the Richmond region as their companies grow to where they are adding employees and scaling up their operations.