King Street Properties, GFP Real Estate and Newmark announced a long-term life science lease totaling 47,790 s/f by Opentrons at Innolabs (45-18 Court Square West) in Long Island City.
The space will be for Opentrons and its two subsidiary companies; Pandemic Response Lab and Neochromosome. Pandemic Response Lab moved into approximately 13,000 s/f in late August, while Neochromosome and Opentrons will occupy the balance of the space in early 2022.
Newmark’s Bill Harvey, Jared Horowitz, Jordan Gosin and Emma Kistler represented ownership, King Street Properties (King Street), Carlyle and GFP Real Estate (GFP) on the transaction.
“We were drawn to Innolabs due to ownership’s expertise in the life science sector, the asset’s location and the value proposition of being in Long Island City,” said Jon Brennan-Badal of Opentrons. “All of these combined made the property a top choice for us in which to grow our business and double down our commitment to the New York City market.”
This transaction marks the first lease signed in the purpose-built project, directly across the street from One Court Square. Innolabs is being developed by King Street, one of the world’s largest private owners of lab space, with almost four million square feet under management. Newmark is working with ownership to foster the neighborhood’s emerging life science and biotech cluster.
“We are excited for the opening of Innolabs, a life sciences development supported by New York City Industrial Development Agency and Mayor de Blasio’s $1 billion LifeSci NYC Initiative,” said Rachel Loeb, President and CEO of New York City Economic Development Corporation, which administers LifeSci NYC on behalf of the City. “The future of Opentrons and this long-term home for the Pandemic Response Lab is important to the health and economy of New York City. By anchoring this project in Queens, our partners at Innolabs are helping build this important life sciences cluster in the Borough, bringing jobs for the future here as well as research and innovation to help propel the City’s growth in this sector.”
“Innolabs represents a significant step for King Street outside of the Boston/Cambridge market, and this recent round of leasing further validates our decision to come to New York City,” said Rob Albro of King Street. “The property is designed to meet all the needs of today’s life science users in a best-in-class setting as we bring our expertise to the region to help this market thrive.”
“We’re excited to expand upon Carlyle’s long-standing commitment to investing in the life sciences sector with today’s leasing milestone,” said Michael Gershenson, Managing Director, Carlyle. “We see significant value creation potential for Innolabs and look forward to servicing life sciences customers with premier lab space in the New York metro area.”
“GFP is proud to welcome Opentrons to Innolabs,” said Tom Ortinau, Head of Acquisitions and Investment Management at GFP Real Estate. “Long Island City is an exciting neighborhood we believe will be home to high quality, affordable space critical to the growth of startup companies in New York City’s burgeoning life science industry.”
Opentrons makes high-quality lab automation more accessible to scientists across the world. Over 90% of biologists run experiments with manual pipettes, moving tiny amounts of liquid from vial to vial by hand. Opentrons built a common platform to help all life-scientists easily execute and share their experiments by making robotics affordable and open. Opentrons’ robotics are in use in over 40 countries worldwide and have been adopted by top-tier institutions like Stanford University, Harvard University, Merk & Co, and Roche.
During the height of the coronavirus pandemic in June of 2020, a group of leading experts came together with Opentrons to launch the Pandemic Response Lab (PRL). PRL can process samples at the scale of an entire city at a fraction of the cost compared to existing solutions. PRL processes tests from various modalities, including on-site swabbing (e.g., hospitals and clinics), at-home saliva collection, and school “source pooled” collection. PRL also sequences variants of interest for public health officials. Going forward, PRL’s mission is to make high-quality, low-cost testing available for all diseases and improve healthcare outcomes.
“We are seeing a tremendous amount of momentum for users looking for space in the life science sector,” said Bill Harvey of Newmark. “The pivot of the neighborhood to focus on the life science market makes perfect sense as the location offers excellent proximity to transit, talent and great value to life science companies who are looking for brand new state-of-the-art lab/office space.”
Innolabs is a 267,000-square-foot asset that encompasses all the features innovative life-science companies seek. The property offers state-of-the-art lab/office space, a well-connected location, and a dynamic amenity program that allows tenants to work productively and efficiently, with ample opportunity for collaboration. In addition to modern lab space, Innolabs offers a selection of amenities designed to enhance the tenant experience to include a welcoming, spacious lobby, an adjacent hospitality-level gathering space, flexible event space, bike storage and locker rooms with showers and storage.
