RALEIGH – A shopping center that used to include a Kroger grocery store at the intersection of Six Forks Road and Wake Forest Road will become the Midtown BioCenter, with 80,000 square feet of lab and manufacturing space and 20,000 square feet of office space, according to an announcement shared with WRAL TechWire on Monday.

The facility will become the first in that particular area of Raleigh, the statement reads, and could be completed before the end of 2022.

The project is led by East West Partners, who has employed CBRE|Raleigh to exclusively represent it in leasing the facility.  The construction will be conduced by ARCO Design/Build, and Argosy Real Estate Partners is providing capital for the new development along with Congressional Bank financing the project.

“We are excited to begin work on the first tenant-ready life sciences opportunity in this core Raleigh sub-market as we reposition the former Kroger into a one-of-a-kind opportunity in the heart of Midtown Raleigh,” said Lee Perry, senior managing partner at East West, in a statement.  “Midtown BioCenter will allow for an immediate need lab or biomanufacturing user to locate and operate alongside best in class, retail, office and residential, all within one mile of I-440 and at a no cost premium to similar product located much further in the region’s suburbs,” Perry said.

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The facility is already being marketed by CBRE|Raleigh, and the listing notes the asking price is $32 per square foot per year.

“We are seeing developers transform existing sites into lab space to keep up with the growing demand in Raleigh-Durham,” said Lee Clyburn, executive vice president at CBRE|Raleigh.  “East West Partners has found a great opportunity to execute in our market, as Midtown Raleigh does not have any existing inventory for lab users, making Midtown BioCenter a first of its kind.”

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