BOSTON — IQHQ Inc., a developer of life sciences real estate with offices in Boston and San Diego, has begun construction on Fenway Center, a $1 billion project in Boston. IQHQ is co-developing the project with locally based firm Meredith Management. The initial phase of construction centers on the development of a 90,000-square-foot air rights deck that overlooks the Massachusetts Turnpike between Beacon Street and Brookline Avenue. The construction of the air rights deck will be the largest air rights structure built in Boston since Copley Place in 1980 and will take approximately 24 months to complete. Upon completion, Fenway Center will consist of more than 960,000 square feet of life sciences space with 10,000 square feet of retail space across two towers. Construction of the life sciences buildings is expected to be complete in early 2025. The campus will also feature 1.6 acres of landscaped green space and a parking garage that will be accessible from both buildings. The green space will include a large plaza and a public pedestrian walkway. The site is adjacent to BOWER, a new 312-unit luxury apartment complex that contains 38,000 square feet of amenity-oriented retail, the Lansdowne MBTA Commuter Rail Station, Fenway Park …
Life Sciences
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — NAI Partners has negotiated a 25,288-square-foot life sciences lease for biotechnology firm Lexicon Pharmaceuticals at 2445 Technology Forest Blvd. in The Woodlands, about 30 miles north of Houston. Dan Boyles and Jon Silberman of NAI Partners represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. The duo also recently arranged the sale of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals’ former headquarters building in The Woodlands.
PHILADELPHIA — CBRE has negotiated a 44,000-square-foot life sciences headquarters lease for biotechnology firm Biomeme at 401 N. Broad St. in Philadelphia. The new headquarters includes space for lab, office and manufacturing uses. Christian Dyer of CBRE represented the landlord, Netrality Data Centers, in the lease negotiations. The representative of the tenant was not disclosed. Since acquiring the 11-story building in 2014, Netrality Data Centers has invested for more than $50 million in capital improvements.
BioMed Realty Wins Municipal Approval for 910,000 SF Expansion of Life Sciences Campus in Bay Area
by John Nelson
EMERYVILLE, CALIF. — The City of Emeryville in Northern California’s Bay Area has approved BioMed Realty’s proposal to expand its Emeryville Center of Innovation life sciences campus. The 12-acre property is located about four miles north of Oakland and 10 miles east of San Francisco. The expansion will add 910,000 square feet of Class A laboratory and office space to the development. Phase I of the expansion, which BioMed Realty expects to begin in 2022, will span 265,000 square feet. “We are grateful for our partnership with the City of Emeryville to develop purpose-built lab research facilities that support the growth of the industry and help our business partners attract and retain talent,” says Salil Payappilly, vice president of BioMed Realty. BioMed Realty is currently modernizing an existing 303,000-square-foot building at Emeryville Center of Innovation. The building, which is not part of the newly announced expansion, will be fully occupied by Zymergen Inc., a biomanufacturing company and Emeryville’s largest employer. Zymergen signed a lease in 2019 for its new corporate headquarters and to accommodate the expansion of its operations. BioMed Realty expects to complete Zymergen’s building in early 2023. Emeryville Mayor Dianne Martinez says that the origin of the life …
ATLANTA — Trammell Crow Co. and High Street Residential are co-developing the remaining phases of Technology Enterprise Park (TEP) in Midtown Atlanta. Georgia Advanced Technology Ventures (GATV), a Georgia Tech-led cooperative organization that is overseeing this project, chose the two firms to deliver a mixed-use, life sciences center within TEP. Construction is slated to begin in early 2022. For each of the five planned project phases of TEP, there is a grant to establish a sustainable education and training program for residents, Georgia Tech students and teachers in surrounding neighborhoods to expose them to careers in the biomedical and life sciences industries. TEP currently has two existing buildings that house research and lab space. The property will begin the park’s long-term expansion with Phase I, which will feature two buildings that include 370,000 square feet of lab and office space and 280 residential apartments.
PHILADELPHIA — PIDC, in partnership with Ensemble Real Estate Investments and Mosaic Development Partners, will build a 220,000-square-foot life sciences project at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The two-building project is part of the $400 million Phase I of a $2.5 billion expansion at the 7.5 million-square-foot mixed-use development. The building at 1201 Normandy Place will span 100,000 square feet of lab, office and research and development space. The building at 33 Rouse Blvd. will total 120,000 square feet and will house similar uses, along with manufacturing and warehousing space. Both buildings are slated for completion by the end of 2022. PIDC is the public-private partnership behind and master developer of the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
PHILADELPHIA — A partnership between locally based REIT Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE: BDN) and the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center (PABC) will develop a 50,000-square-foot life sciences project in Philadelphia. The property will be located adjacent to Brandywine’s Schuylkill Yards mixed-use development in the University City area. Construction is scheduled to begin immediately and to be complete in the fourth quarter.
WALTHAM, MASS. — Design firm Bergmeyer and construction management firm J. Calnan & Associates (JC&A) have completed a 180,000-square-foot life sciences redevelopment project in the western Boston suburb of Waltham. The property, which features traditional office and lab space, will serve as the new headquarters for robotics firm Boston Dynamics. Amenities include kitchens and a fitness center, as well as mothers’ and quiet rooms.
Healthpeak Properties to Develop 141,000 SF Life Sciences Project in South San Francisco
by Amy Works
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. — Healthpeak Properties will commence construction on Nexus on Grand, a life sciences development located at 233 E. Grand Ave. in South San Francisco. The Class A development will consist of a five-story, 141,000-square-foot building and an adjacent parking structure. The purpose-built lab building will feature modern design, prominent location on East Grand Avenue, flexible and efficient floor plates and lab-ready building systems that will accommodate a number of life sciences users. Nexus on Grand will be Healthpeak’s third ground-up development in the San Francisco market since 2015, following the leasing of The Cove at Oyster Point and The Shore at Sierra Point.
NEW YORK — JLL Capital Markets has arranged $393 million in construction financing for a project that will convert a 399,029-square-foot office building at ABC/Disney’s former headquarters building in Manhattan into a life sciences facility with purpose-built research and lab space. The borrower, a partnership controlled by New York City-based developer Taconic Partners and investment firm Nuveen Real Estate, purchased the building at 125 West End Ave. in 2019 for $230 million. With the vacating of the property by its primary tenant, which operated out of the building from 1985 until its lease expired in January of this year, the partnership is set to begin construction. The senior lender on the four-year, floating-rate financing package was a fund backed by Apollo Global Management, while Oaktree Capital Finance also provided mezzanine debt for the project. Evan Pariser and Geoff Goldstein of JLL placed the financing. The 125 West End Ave. building is located less than a quarter-mile from Lincoln Square and is close to the 1, 2 and 3 subway lines as well as West Side Highway. Additionally, the project is situated just 18 miles from the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. The existing building’s specs allow …