NEW YORK CITY — Volastra Therapeutics, a biotechnology firm focused on treating cancer, has signed an 11,000-square-foot life sciences lease at the Mink Building in West Harlem. The space is located within the Manhattanville Factory District, a 1.1 million-square-foot office and life sciences campus. New York City-based Janus Property Co. owns the building.
SAN DIEGO — IQHQ Inc., a developer of life sciences real estate with offices in Boston and San Diego, will build the San Diego Research and Development District (The RaDD), a $1.5 billion campus that will be located along San Diego’s waterfront. IQHQ has secured various permits and entitlements and plans to break ground on the first phase of the project later this week. Completion of Phase I is scheduled for summer 2023. The RaDD will span eight acres and three city blocks, making it the largest urban commercial waterfront site on the California coast, according to the development team. Preliminary plans call for lab, office and retail space, specific amounts of which were not disclosed. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the project will consist of several mid-rise buildings and a 17-story tower, as well as a museum and several acres of green space and rooftop decks. The paper also reports that locally based developer Manchester Financial Group will retain ownership of a portion of the site and will develop a hotel on the campus. “The RaDD is exciting on so many levels — not only does it represent our first acquisition in San Diego, which IQHQ is proud …
CHICAGO — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of a 31,120-square-foot office building occupied by the State of Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) for $4.2 million. The property is located at 915 E. 63rd St. in Chicago. IDHS has operated at the location for 27 years. Adrian Mendoza, Austin Weisenbeck and Sean Sharko of Marcus & Millichap marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a fund manager. The team also secured the buyer, a private investor.
DALLAS — WorkSuites, a provider of coworking and flexible office spaces, has debuted its new brand WorkTank with a 4,000-square-foot space at 6060 N. Central Expressway in North Dallas. The WorkTank brand will offer a more private and professional office-using experience, with spaces located on ground floors as opposed to upper floors of office buildings, as is the case with the traditional WorkSuites brand. The new space will offer coffee and snacks, printers and patio workstations.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the sale of a 168,144-square-foot office building located at 325 Columbia Turnpike in Florham Park, about 30 miles west of New York City. The three-story building is situated on 15 acres and offers amenities such as a recently renovated cafeteria and onsite tenant storage units. The property was 85 percent leased at the time of sale. Andy Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Frank DiTommaso and Seth Zudiema represented the seller, Mack-Cali, in the transaction. The team also procured the buyer, Connecticut-based investment firm The Birch Group.
DALLAS — BioLabs, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotechnology firm, has signed a 37,000-square-foot life sciences lease at Pegasus Park, a new 23-acre mixed-use development in Dallas. BioLabs expects to take occupancy of the new facility, which will feature both lab and coworking office space, in 2021. The lab will be equipped with an array of scientific equipment and will offer additional services and amenities for tenants. Pegasus Park is a redevelopment of the former campus of jewelry retailer Zale Corp. in the city’s Design District. The developer is a partnership between J. Small Investments and Lyda Hill Philanthropies.
DALLAS — August Real Estate, a Dallas-based development firm founded by brothers and industry veterans Evan and Jordan August, has launched with two redevelopment projects in the city’s historic Deep Ellum neighborhood. The first project involves the restoration of The Continental Gin Building, which was built in 1888, into a modern office complex with the feel of a boutique hotel that will feature a 22,000-square-foot coworking space from local operator Common Desk. August is also renovating the building at 333 1st Ave., which was built in 1926 and most recently occupied by Nordstrom’s Trunk Club, to offer 36,000 square feet of office space. The projects are expected to be complete in the first and second quarters of 2021, respectively.
WATERTOWN, MASS. — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has negotiated two commercial leases totaling 46,966 square feet at Riverworks at Aetna Mills in Watertown, a western suburb of Boston. In the first deal, industrial 3-D printer manufacturer Markforged signed a 36,291-square-foot renewal. In the second transaction, pharmaceutical intelligence provider InCrowd signed a 10,675-square-foot renewal. Mark Roth, Brianna Piacitelli, Brendan Daly and Matthew Malatesta represented the landlord, Paradigm Properties, in the lease negotiations. Chris Lawrence of JLL represented Markforged, and Brooke Blue of T3 Advisors represented InCrowd.
CHICAGO — The Meadow, a 3.5-acre rooftop terrace, has opened at The Old Post Office building in Chicago. Situated on the 13th floor, the space includes a basketball court, running track and bistro and bar area. The rooftop park is part of the 2.5 million-square-foot restoration and repositioning of the building, which reopened in November 2019. Tenants include Uber, Walgreens, Ferarra Candy Co., HomeChef and Cboe. Gensler and Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects designed the rooftop. BEAR Construction served as general contractor. “The Meadow represents a timely launch of next-generation tenant amenities, offering workers access to ample outdoor space that allows for multiple modes of use,” says Sheryl Schulze, principal and global repositioning and landlord services leader at Gensler. “Access to daylight, outdoor air and contact with nature is no longer an option; it’s an expectation.”
LISLE, ILL. — Colliers International has arranged the sale of 2400 Ogden Avenue in Lisle for an undisclosed price. Built in 2000, the office property spans 121,000 square feet on 10.4 acres. It has more than 500 parking spaces. At the time of sale, the asset was 71 percent leased to ARRIS Solutions Inc. and Automated Logic. Alissa Adler and John Homsher of Colliers represented the institutional seller. A local investor purchased the property.