Battelle Memorial Institute has hired TVA Architects of Portland to do a master plan of 110 acres in the heart of the Tri-Cities Research District in north Richland.

TVA also will do the planning for another 290 acres in the district that are owned by Solaris Group LLC and the Port of Benton.

Gary Spanner, chairman of the research district, said the master planning for all three parcels is costing just under $500,000 and should be completed by August.

The plan will help set a direction for developing the district into a research campus, complete with office buildings, research and manufacturing facilities, with amenities to include shops, restaurants, cultural and recreational features and landscaping.

"This will give us a good starting point for telling the story and marketing the district," Spanner said.

"The master plan for the Battelle land will help us clearly define how this area could be developed, which is something established and emerging companies have told us they need before they'll consider locating within the research district," Jeff Wadsworth, a Battelle official, said in a prepared statement issued Thursday. Wadsworth is executive vice president for global laboratory operations.

Spanner said the master plan will show companies interested in coming to the Tri-Cities there is a vision for creating a strong research cluster near the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Washington State University Tri-Cities, both of which are also in north Richland.

This is a significant step forward for new development in the research district, which was established on 1,600 acres in 1990 as a science and technology park, Spanner noted. It was renamed this fall.

Earlier this year an economics consulting firm recommended the stakeholders focus on the core area of 400 acres, which is owned by Battelle, Solaris and the Port of Benton.

Spanner, who also is manager of economic development at PNNL, said the core area is an asset for the Tri-Cities to draw for technology-based businesses, just like the Vista Entertainment District in Kennewick has been a draw for the construction of the Three Rivers Convention Center and Toyota Center sports arena.

Battelle's 110 acres in the Tri-Cities Research District is south of Battelle Boulevard, between George Washington Way and Stevens Drive, and is just south of the PNNL campus.

A Battelle news release noted that Gov. Christine Gregoire designated the district an Innovation Partnership Zone in Washington, which makes state funding and resources available to the research park.

TVA's designs include the North American headquarters for Nike and Ericsson telecommunications.