Life sciences complex gets new tenants
BLUE BELL » Two life sciences companies have leased space at the PROTECS Innovation Center In Blue Bell, Montgomery County. The two-story, 50,000-squarefoot lab and life sciences building is owned by 4 Valley Square Group LP and is located at 512 Township Line Road. The leasing was arranged by CBRE.
KorGene, a market leader in developing targeted, molecular diagnostics, will occupy 8,259 square feet of the facility. ThirdLaw Technologies, a company with expertise in synthetic and computational chemistry, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, biologics and medical devices, has committed to 4,808 square feet, according to a press release.
Paul Touhey, CBRE senior vice president and Cody Lehrer, CBRE vice president, represented the facility’s owners during the lease negotiations. Christopher R. DiPaolo, the principal of 4 Valley Square Group, is also the president and founder of PROTECS, LLC, a full-service national design/build and construction management firm focused on providing “regulated high-tech industries with professional services for R&D and manufacturing operations from project inception to full occupancy,” according to the release.
“The suburban Philadelphia life sciences real estate market has remained very strong during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Touhey said in the release. “These two tenants were attracted to the existing lab infrastructure and required quick occupancy of the space, a trend we are seeing more of
during the pandemic. 512 Township Line Road has been dormant for nearly 10 years and by PROTECS applying their proven Innovation Center model to adaptively repurpose the building, it has been brought back to life in less than six months.”
Large-scale capital improvements by 4 Valley Square Group are underway at the property, including modernizing interior common areas, updating building façade and exterior hardscaping. Renovations are scheduled to be completed by the end of September 2020. The property owner is also planning to move forward with speculative lab space at the Blue Bell PROTECS Innovation Center to better accommodate some of these fast-moving, turnkey requirements, according to the release.
“The limited supply of lab space in the region, coupled with the increasing demand from life sciences occupiers bodes well for this asset going forward,” Lehrer said in the release, adding the CBRE is in conversations with a variety of potential tenants about the remaining space.
“The robust infrastructure of this property combined with our experience in cost effectively delivering space to research and development tenants is a huge advantage to current and prospective tenants, DiPaolo said in the release.
In addition to 512 Township Line Road, PROTECS has three other Innovation Centers; one in King of Prussia and two in Plymouth Meeting totaling 120,000 square feet and containing 16 technology and life sciences companies.