Life Sciences : Development News

Right around this time last year, relations between the University City Science Center and Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority (RDA)--which is responsible for encouraging development in the city--were slightly strained, to say the least. In May, the Science Center filed a lawsuit against the RDA in an attempt to stop the seizure of a portion of its University City research park. The undeveloped lots, which had fallen into default due to the financial crisis, were meant to become future additions to the Science Center's campus.

But thanks in part to a clause in the original agreement between the two agencies which disallowed foreclosure in the instance of "unforeseeable causes," the Science Center managed to hang onto its property. The two entities have also shaken hands and made up, metaphorically speaking. And on April 29, the Science Center published a press release announcing that the "longstanding redevelopment agreement" had been amended.

That's certainly good news for anyone who believes in the technology-based economic development happening at the Science Center. And according to Saul Behar, the Science Center's Vice President and General Counsel, the center now has the buffer of an additional 10 years to develop the four parcels on its campus that are still vacant. If the center is willing to shell out for additional fees, Behar says, that decade can legally be extended to 13.

As for what may or may not eventually be developed on the space over the next decade, the Science Center isn't quite sure--or isn't telling. "There's nothing solid right now," says Behar. "But we're continuing to market the parcels, and we're always looking for opportunities."

Source: Saul Behar, University City Science Center
Writer: Dan Eldridge

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It's certainly no secret, at least to those of us who call Philadelphia home, that the University City district has for many years now been the proverbial nucleus of an incredibly well-connected and highly knowledgeable cluster of medical, science and academic professionals. But unfortunately, the area's so-called 'Eds and Meds' leaders have never fully succeeded in branding their community as one of the nation's most important research centers. That perception--or rather, the lack thereof--may soon be changing, thanks to the work of a newly-formed group calling itself the University City Innovation Collaborative.

The group is being headed by the University City Science Center; the nonprofit University City District; and the Science Center's development partner, a Baltimore company known as Wexford Science and Technology.

The aim of the group, according to Stephen Tang, the Science Center's CEO, involves making University City a world-class innovation center along the lines of similar regions like Cambridge, Mass., and San Francisco's Mission Bay district. And yet what sort of development that will actually entail still remains to be seen, because as Tang explains, "This is all a work in progress; the project doesn't really finish until April."

Part of what the project will almost certainly involve, however, aside from more spaces where innovation can take place, are recreational facilities. "You have to have amenities that allow creative people to be with like-minded people for extended periods of time," Tang says. "So that means retail, it means entertainment, it means after-hours places. All those things need to come together."

Tang is also quick to point out, however, that while "it's important that we have facilities, it's more important who's in those facilities, and for what reason. We need to foster better collaboration between organizations and institutions," he offers. "And that's not only to tell the story, but to build a better story as well."

Source: Stephen Tang, University City Science Center
Writer: Dan Eldridge

Do you know of a new building going up, a business expanding or being renovated, a park in the works or even a cool new house being built in the neighborhood? Please send your Development News tips here.

While it's true that the financial travails of the Tasty Baking Company have been hogging the local financial headlines this past week, there's also a fair bit of good news brewing at the Navy Yard in South Philly. During the first week of January, the Liberty Property Trust development company along with Synterra Partners, a small minority-owned landscaping firm, broke ground on two new flex buildings located just north of the two-year-old Tasty Baking factory. And there's a good chance that a third flex building will eventually be added to the mix. Together, the new buildings and the factory will comprise a 40 acre mini-campus known as the Navy Yard Commerce Center.

The project signifies not only good things for the Navy Yard's commercial real estate situation, but also a financial sea change for Liberty, which hadn't broken ground on a previous project since May 2009. And as for whether or not the two new flex buildings will prove to be successful enterprises, that's practically a given, according to Brian Cohen, Liberty Property Trust's VP of Development & Leasing. "Demand has been extremely robust, especially since the ground-breaking," he says. "And we're very hopeful that we'll be able to make more lease announcements in the coming months."

Potentially interested companies will certainly want to act soon, however, as a whopping 21 percent of the space has already been leased by The Fretz Corp., a wholesaler of high-end kitchen appliances that plans to use part of their new space for manufacturing.

"This is what we hope is the start of the flex product within the city of Philadelphia," says Cohen. "We hope it'll help attract and retain those growing companies that otherwise--for lab space or light manufacturing or assembly--needed to go to the suburbs to find the right type of real estate."

Source: Brian Cohen, Liberty Property Trust
Writer: Dan Eldridge

As one of the first businesses to establish a presence at the University City Science Center's Port Business Incubator, Integral Molecular built relationships with nearby universities and received instruction from experienced entrepreneurs that helped them stay afloat in the company's pivotal, early years. Now that Integral Molecular is an established company with a 10-year track record of protein and drug discovery research, they are returning the favor with an investment of their own.

This month, Integral Molecular announced a 10,000 sq. ft. expansion to the Science Center that will add new laboratory and office space to 3711 Market Street. Since launching in 2001, Integral Molecular has grown to inhabit nearly half of the incubator space at 3701 Market Street. This build-out comes on the heels of a 10-year lease with the Science Center, keeping biotech jobs in Philadelphia and adding 10 new positions to this growing firm.

"We have been able to customize the features we wanted here all along," says Integral Molecular President and CSO Benjamin Doranz. "The building itself is designed to house lab-based biotech companies like ourselves so putting in the kinds of features we need--like chemical hoods, required ventilation--those kinds of features are already designed into the building, making things easier for us."

The addition, which is 60 percent new lab space, will bring features like sterile tissue-culture rooms, lab glass washers, purified water systems and improved ventilation systems. But the main feature of the addition is space, allowing Integral Molecular to meet the demands of many pharma projects it hopes to pursue in 2011. The addition is currently under construction and expected to open in March.

"We have labs at 3701 but we are really outgrowing them," says Doranz. "This will give us lab space that is not necessarily better in general but better for us because they are customized for exactly what we do."

Source: Benjamin Doranz, Integral Molecular
Writer: John Steele

As one of the top urban research facilities in the U.S., the University City Science Center has launched many groundbreaking innovations inside its labs. Its most recent innovation, however, had nothing to do with formulas or equations. The Science Center this week celebrated its Market Street Revitalization Project, which raised over $2 million from the City of Philadelphia's ReStore Corridors Project, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and 11 Market Street tenants from 34th to 41st streets. The revitalization added new trees, sidewalks, benches, bike lanes, lighting and crosswalks to the 7-block corridor.

"We look at ourselves as having a campus here, between 34th and 39th Street,"  says Science Center Senior VP of Real Estate Curtis Hess. "Part of the reason for the project was as a way to tie the whole campus together. As a major stakeholder in this corridor, it just made sense for us to take the lead on the project."

When the project was conceived in January of 2008, University City District approached the Science Center about streetscape improvements at 40th and Market. By the time the project got underway in November 2009, the two projects had been combined to encompass the whole corridor from 34th to 41st, connecting the Science Center complex with neighborhoods to the west. Officials hope the added lighting and footpaths will make the neighborhood safer and will beautify the Science Center campus for future tenants.

"If you look at the fact that we broke ground in November 2009, we had horrible rain in the fall, not one, not two but three blizzards in the winter, then it got to summer and the temperatures rose into the 90s and 100s and stayed up there," says Communications Director Jeanne Mell. "There were a lot of challenges to overcome and now that it is completed, we want to celebrate it and show it off."

Source: Curtis Hess, University City Science Center
Writer: John Steele