An agreement is close to being sealed to bring a £100 million manufacturing research and development centre to the Midlands.
The centre will be a joint collaboration between universities in the region and local development agencies Advantage West Midlands and the East Midland Development Agency.
Discussion has raged for months over the location of the site, which will employ up to 2,000 people, but it is now close to being decided.
The Ansty site near Coventry is thought to be the favourite, with its central location between east and West Midlands attracting support. Current negotiations are underway over which university will lead the development, which will be launched to boost value added manufacturing in the Midlands.
The universities of Birmingham and Warwick are working with colleagues from Nottingham, Loughborough and Leicester on the project.
A formal announcement is expected before next April, with work on the building due to begin in 2009.
Funding for the building - which will focus on operational performance research, automation and advanced tooling - is expected to come from AWM and EMDA.
As well as carrying out cutting edge research for private sector companies, the centre would also help disseminate the latest technology and techniques from the universities to industry.
Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson has already confirmed that it is planning to build a new £60 million research and development base at the Ansty site which will employ more than 600 highly skilled workers.
AWM chief executive John Edwards, speaking at the agency's conference, said: "On Monday our developers Weldon Ltd go on site at Ansty to begin laying the infrastructure at Ansty Park.
"This will pave the way for the arrival of Ericsson early next year who will be moving 500 jobs to Ansty.
"It is the first step towards what I am confident will be the first step towards the creation of a world-class centre capable of competing with the Golden Triangle of research and development in San Francisco."
Although publicly funded, much of the research will be funded by the private sector in an arrangement similar to the Advanced Energy Technology centre at Loughborough University.
In addition to the main site at Ansty, other satellite offices could be set up to boost manufacturing R&D across the region.
A source said: "The various parties are moving towards consensus now. The stumbling block in the past has been location, but Ansty answers that because it is available now and is right on the border between the east and west midlands.
"Plus the whole raison d'etre for Ansty was to be a centre for R&D excellence.
"Having Ericsson there already helps a great deal, and then the infrastructure is going to follow."
Work is due to start today to install the initial infrastructure at the 100-acre Ansty Park site -a development which could ultimately create more than 5,000 jobs over the next decade.
AWM has already completed the removal of more than half a mile of runway at the former airfield, once home to part of aero-engine giant Rolls-Royce.
Work will begin on putting in roads, water, gas and electricity to provide fully serviced development plots for major high-quality technology-based users.
Working with project managers Mace, the first phase is expected to be completed by the end of the year with further work taking place next year.
AWM is continuing negotiations with other international companies with a view to setting up operations at Ansty.
Indian conglomerate Tata is another name which has been linked with the site, and is believed to have agreed a major investment though so far nothing has been formally announced.
