ASU plan to open facilities near Mayo Hospital advances

Project designed to strengthen the ASU-Mayo relationship, improve Arizona health care and aid in economic development

Arizona State University’s plans to advance health care education and practice in Arizona took an important step forward today when the state re-designated a parcel of land near the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix where ASU expects to build new educational and research facilities.

The project, part of the growing partnership between Mayo Clinic and ASU, will provide students with exposure to clinical activities and translational work. It will also provide clinical research facilities for programs that benefit from interactions between ASU researchers and Mayo clinicians and researchers.

In addition, the proximity of the ASU facilities to the planned biomedical and technology industry development on the surrounding land in the Desert Ridge area will help stimulate development, creating more opportunities for valuable industry collaborations for ASU students and faculty.

The enabling step in the project, a beneficiary redesignation of state trust land, was approved by members of the state Selection Board, which is comprised of the governor, the state attorney general and the state treasurer.

“I want to thank Governor Jan Brewer and the other members of the state Selection Board for their crucial support of this project,” said ASU President Michael Crow. “Our plans for new facilities in Desert Ridge will provide students and faculty of both ASU and Mayo with unique advantages while advancing science and health care delivery to the Valley, and beyond.”

Governor Brewer said the project would have long-term benefits for the people of Arizona.

“I am confident that the re-designation of this land will benefit all Arizonans,” she said. “Increased collaboration between researchers from our public universities and health care professionals working in our state will generate research breakthroughs, improve health care delivery for our citizens and seed new businesses that will strengthen the Arizona economy.”

The ASU-Mayo partnership already is helping to build a wider range of health care services and educational opportunities for Phoenix and all of Arizona. 


ASU and Mayo Clinic have established a variety of successful collaborations since 2003, including a joint nursing education program, joint research projects and faculty appointments and dual degree programs. The success of the ASU-Mayo collaboration led to a broader partnership in 2011 that today includes health care, medical research and education.

Trust land redesignation

Arizona State University sought redesignation of beneficiaries of state trust land so that it could develop an educational and research campus adjacent to the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Desert Ridge. There are 24 acres of unimproved land at the Desert Ridge site, near 56th Street and the loop of 101 in northeast Phoenix. This land had been held in the State Trust for the benefit of Arizona’s K-12 schools.

To provide equal value and acreage to the trust that benefits K-12, the Selection Board agreed to redesignate 14.39 acres of State Trust land at Princess Boulevard in Scottsdale and 9.61 of university State Trust land in New River for the Desert Ridge property. The Arizona Board of Regents and constituent organizations that support the K-12 schools have been involved throughout the discussions of the redesignation and have provided support for this outcome.