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More growth at BioSquare
By Tim Stoddard
Boston's largest biomedical research park continues to grow this winter. Construction crews will soon break ground on the third laboratory building of BioSquare, the 14-acre research and business park in Boston's South End being developed as a joint venture by Boston Medical Center and Boston University. The 176,000-square-foot building will house a biomedical research facility that is expected to be fully leased when completed in 2005.
Boston University Medical Center has selected the real estate firm Spaulding & Slye Colliers to develop the site and act as the facility's construction manager, leasing agent, and property manager. About 50 percent of the building will be occupied by MED researchers, with the remaining laboratory space leased to biotechnology companies.
“We are very pleased to partner with Spaulding & Slye Colliers on a project that will allow for the development of much-needed research space for institutional investigators and our external tenants,” says Richard Towle, BU senior vice president. “The development of this facility is an important step forward in the continuing growth of BioSquare.”
The new building will join the existing nine-story Center for Advanced Biomedical Research, the eight-story Evans Biomedical Research Center, and a parking garage. Like the previous buildings, it will provide access to state-of-the-art research equipment and services, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, a cardiovascular imaging suite, and a transgenic facility, as well as general business services. Current BioSquare tenants include CombinatoRx Inc., Pulmatrix, NitroMed, Adipogenix, and MassMedic.
In addition to attracting established companies, the facility may prove to be fertile ground for small startups. For the past two years, the BUMC-sponsored BioSquare Discovery and Innovation Center (BDIC) has been helping fledgling biotech companies get off the ground. “One area that the BDIC focuses on is the incubation of small, promising biotechnology startup companies,” says Michael Donovan, Medical Campus associate vice president for administrative services. “We help companies not only in terms of their technical needs — we provide access to fully built laboratory space and a wide array of biomedical research support services — but we also provide access to capital for startup companies.”
Such ties between academia and industry are mutually beneficial, says John Duffy, senior vice president at Spaulding & Slye Colliers. “We feel fortunate to be joining with one of the nation's most respected academic medical centers in this development,” he says.
23
January 2004
Boston University
Office of University Relations