A $33 million building home to a Defense Department supercomputer and simulation labs could become the first of five new buildings at Wright-Patterson, officials said Friday.

Air Force officials marked the opening of the Information Technology Complex, which will house the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Simulation and Analysis Facility and a Defense Department Supercomputer Resource Center.

“There’s no doubt in my mind this will become a hallmark capability of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for many, many years to come,” said Lt. Gen. C.D. Moore II, commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. “… This is a powerful tool for our Air Force to have this here.”

The two-story, 60,000-square foot facility will have more than 140 employees who simulate modeling to improve capabilities in avionics and communication, among other areas, according to Erik Pakulski, a Simulation and Analysis Division program manager. The labs will include aircraft cockpit and UAV simulators and the building will have an auditorium.

A decade in development, the building is more secure than the previous facility the division was located, and a major reason for the move, he said.

The transition will be completed this winter, said Randyll Levine, division chief.

Messer Construction, which has an office in Dayton, completed construction in 14 months, said Kevin Cozart, the company’s operations vice president.

The building is the first of what could become five buildings on the campus, Levine said. But the first building is the only one planned for the next five years, said Col. Luke Leonard, commanding officer of the Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District, which includes Wright-Patterson. Officials did not immediately provide additional information about future plans.

Jeff Hoagland, executive director of the Dayton Development Coalition, said the high-tech, information technology jobs are a boon to the base and the region.