University of Minnesota Board of Regents on Friday approved the purchase of a 78-acre addition to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minn.

The $4.3 million purchase will allow the University to preserve several hundred acres of forest, wetland and lakeshore, according to docket materials. The remaining land at the arboretum will be used for researching plant collections, gardens and environmental models. 

The property neighbors the University’s Horticultural Research Center, where Haralson and Honeycrisp apples were developed. The purchase would allow expansion of the center’s apple, tree and grape research. 

The Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources and the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council pitched in $2 million and $1 million, respectively, to fund the project. 

Remaining funds will be covered by proceeds from the sale of surplus land at the arboretum.

AHC lease 

The board also approved an eight-year lease for a nearly 17,000-square-foot building on South Washington Avenue in Minneapolis to be used by the Academic Health Center and the Advanced Research and Diagnostic Laboratory.

The AHC and ARDL will use the newly rented building for laboratory and office space as well as for freezer and repository purposes. 

The University will pay an estimated $1.2 million to renovate the premises.

The lease will begin in August and continue for eight years. The total rent for the lease throughout the initial eight-year term is about $2.25 million, according to docket materials.