Editor’s note: LimeLight is a new feature from WRAL TechWire offering another means of publishing noteworthy news. Be sure to check out more LimeLight worthy news at this link.
MORRISVILLE — Longfellow Real Estate Partners on Thursday announced its acquisition of a 20-acre development site with plans to construct four mid-rise Class A life science buildings, each 120,000 square feet, located on Watkins Road in Morrisville. The development will be Longfellow’s first ground-up lab project in the Research Triangle Park region. Upon completion, the new campus will more than double Longfellow’s footprint in Wake County and grow its North Carolina portfolio to nearly 3 million square feet.
The Watkins Road development will be adjacent to Longfellow’s existing Discovery at Perimeter Park campus. Purchased in January 2020, Longfellow is repositioning the five-building, 401,000-square-foot traditional office and flex space campus to life science labs. Extensive façade enhancements and construction of indoor and outdoor amenity areas are slated for completion in May 2021.
Limelight
Longfellow Director of Leasing, Greg Capps said, “Discovery continues to benefit from strong leasing activity due to the increase in life science activity since the start of the pandemic. We are excited to welcome leading biotechnology firms Icagen, LifeEdit, and Enzerna to the property totaling upwards of 28,000 square feet.” In addition, the campus has additional lab suites available ranging from 7,800 to 14,000 square feet with more delivering this Summer, as well as a 60,000-square-foot full-building opportunity currently available.
“Both the major capital upgrades to Discovery at Perimeter Park, as well as the new state-of-the-art facility on Watkins Road, will complement our existing office and lab campuses and provide a solution for the growing demand for purpose-built lab space,” said Longfellow Managing Partner Adam Sichol. “These investments provide us the ability to accommodate larger users, create build-to-suit opportunities for companies within the life science market, and ultimately develop a more robust life sciences ecosystem. The Research Triangle is home to one of the most dynamic global centers of bio-innovation. We remain committed to building out the infrastructure that will serve this region in the long-term.”
The campuses will combine research and lab spaces with extensive amenities provided by Elevate™, Longfellow’s proprietary tenant experience platform, including a 5,500- square-foot amenity center at Discovery at Perimeter Park, a coffee/bar lounge, community room, modern conferencing space and outdoor gathering areas.
With more than 6 million square feet located in key biotech markets around the country, Longfellow is expanding its national portfolio. Since 2018, Longfellow has acquired over $1.2 billion of innovative life science projects in the US and has committed more than $1 billion to the future acquisition and development of life science campuses.
About Longfellow Real Estate Partners
Longfellow Real Estate Partners serves the unique demands of science and technology companies and focuses on the most innovative cluster locations in the US. The firm acquires and develops facilities in strategic locations and builds long-term relationships with research centric organizations including life science companies, universities, medical centers and research institutes. The principals of Longfellow have acquired or developed more than 8 million square feet of laboratory and technology space over their careers including numerous high profile projects on the East Coast. The Company’s institutional capabilities and entrepreneurial vision enables Longfellow to deliver high quality laboratories and innovation space while satisfying each tenant’s unique requirements. For more information about Longfellow, please email info@lfrep.com
