Biotech firm agrees to buy vacant West Jordan Fairchild building

After sitting empty and idle for three years, the former home of Fairchild Semiconductor in West Jordan is set to have new life. PolarityTE, a biotech startup in Salt Lake City, has agreed to purchase the property for about $21 million. 

The deal transferring the 60-acre site with a 300,000 square feet of building space is expected to close by the end of October, according to Polarity president and CEO Denver Lough. Lough said his company plans to spend up to $70 million renovating the facility although the buildings already have many of the features PolarityTE would have built on its own, because microchip manufacturing requires many of the same safety and cleanliness standards as biotech research and manufacturing.

{mprestriction ids="1,3"}Lough told the Deseret News the company had been searching for a large space to expand its operations for months. Lough said he received a call from the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative about the available property.

The facility will be renovated in three phases, with the first two expected to be completed within three or four months, Lough said. The entire facility could be open for research and development, laboratory testing and corporate administration by the end of next year.{/mprestriction}