T
he philanthropist Dr. Gary Michelson has promised $120 million for the establishment of a medical institute at UCLA's research campus in West L.A., which is being developed from the former Westside Pavilion. The California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy will be the anchor tenant of this campus, which is located at 10800 West Pico Boulevard, about two miles south of UCLA's Westwood campus. The Los Angeles Times and Urbanize Los Angeles reported this news.

    The institute will occupy approximately 360,000 square feet of the 700,000-square-foot medical research and engineering complex under construction in Rancho Park. The terms of this deal are unique and do not involve a traditional lease agreement.

    The California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy will be a nonprofit medical research organization funded through a public-private partnership. It will be governed by an independent board of directors, which includes representatives from UCLA. The institute will pay UCLA a percentage of any net revenues generated from the sale of new medicines or inventions created by its scientists.

    The University of California purchased the former indoor mall for $700 million in January. The mall was in the process of being converted into an office space by Hudson Pacific and Macerich, with Google as the intended tenant.

    The redevelopment of the former Westside Pavilion into a UCLA research campus is expected to take three years. However, the immunology institute could be operational in half that time, according to the Los Angeles Times.

    The UCLA Research Park will also house other science and medicine programs, including the UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering. The former Westside Pavilion also includes a 12-screen theater that could be repurposed as lecture halls or performance spaces.

    The $120 million award from the Michelson Medical Research Foundation will be used for various purposes. $100 million will be divided between vaccine development and microbiome research within the institute. The remaining $20 million will be used to establish an endowment for research grants for young scientists.

    The institute will feature laboratories of varying sizes for biotech researchers, allowing them to start in smaller spaces and then move to larger labs as their projects grow. According to Michelson, this will create an entire ecosystem of biotech startups that will stay in the neighborhood and attract other players.

    The immunology institute had been planned for years, while the full-scale research park was something that UCLA had always dreamed of having but could never find a suitable property close to campus. Former UCLA Chancellor Gene Block played a significant role in purchasing the former Westside Pavilion.

    An earlier plan to build the institute on campus involved tearing down a parking garage, digging deep enough to replace the parking space, and then erecting a new building on top.

    In addition to the former Westside Pavilion, the University of California also purchased two other properties to be used as satellites for landlocked UCLA in Westwood. These include the historic Trust Building in Downtown Los Angeles and the former Marymount California University campus in Rancho Palos Verdes.