Author: casey

The life sciences sector is transforming the real estate market, driven by breakthroughs in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical research. CBRE projects that 21.3 million sf of life sciences real estate will be completed this year, a 65% increase from 13.9 million sf in 2023. This rapid growth has intensified competition for attracting tenants, particularly those seeking to secure top R&D talent. According to CBRE’s U.S. Life Sciences Talent Trends 2024 report, talent acquisition challenges are expected to persist in the industry.

To distinguish their properties, developers are partnering with architectural and design firms to reimagine life sciences facilities as vibrant, welcoming destinations. By emphasizing four key elements—wellness, collaboration, biophilic design, and community integration—they are setting their properties apart. By integrating state-of-the-art facilities with unexpected public amenities, such as breweries and outdoor “living rooms,” these developments foster a more holistic environment. This evolution not only redefines how life sciences companies engage with their communities but also demonstrates how thoughtful lab design can drive innovation, paving the way for a new era in campus development.

A Study in Wellness in Life Science Facilities

Onsite gyms were just the beginning. Life sciences campuses are embracing wellness in more holistic ways to enhance productivity and job satisfaction for the talented individuals typically confined to lab benches. Longfellow Real Estate Partners, developer of the 17-acre Centerpark Labs in San Diego, worked with interdisciplinary design firms HGA and FPBA to create versatile spaces, including indoor-outdoor seating areas, lunch spaces, and a hybrid fitness area with turf and ample space for various athletic activities.

Additionally, Cell Signaling Technology (CST), a leading provider of antibodies, kits and services, will provide employees and visitors with opportunities to connect to nature in the adjacent state park, The Monoliths, supported by a network of walking trails, overlooks, and bicycle facilities on its new research and innovation campus in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts.

In the competitive life sciences field, talent is increasingly attracted to workplaces that prioritize well-being and work-life balance which help mitigate burnout. Thoughtfully-designed spaces that enable employees to recharge mentally and physically enhance focus, creativity and collaboration—key drivers of breakthroughs in R&D.

Architects of Insight

Lab spaces were once characterized by isolated environments, designed for scientific functionality above all else. Today, flexibility and collaboration take center stage, with architects designing spaces that remove physical barriers to foster cross-disciplinary communication and the exchange of ideas. Design teams for projects at Centerpark Labs and Cell Signaling Technology have embraced this approach by connecting office and lab spaces with glass walls, fostering transparency and interaction while maintaining workflow. Additionally, open, flexible layouts, enable teams to easily reconfigure spaces as their research evolves, enhancing adaptability in this dynamic field.

Research in Full Bloom

Biophilic design, a popular trend in the office sector, is still a relatively new concept for research facilities. Cell Signaling Technology’s new campus, located on the site of an abandoned granite quarry, will utilize the natural cliff walls and varying elevations to create visual interest, active courtyards and al fresco lounge areas. Centerpark Labs is also incorporating outdoor terraces into its buildings, enabling employees to enjoy San Diego’s warm climate—a feature more commonly seen in Big Tech campuses and modern suburban office design than in scientific facilities. Durham ID, a 1.7 million-sf mixed-use campus developed by Longfellow, directly connects lab and office employees to Morris Green Park, which the firm developed within downtown Durham, N.C.

Life sciences companies are increasingly demonstrating their growing commitment to environmental stewardship. For example, Cell Signaling Technology’s new R&D campus is designed to eliminate the use of fossil fuels and achieve net-zero emissions—a dramatic transformation from its previous life as an environmentally depleted quarry site. By using sustainable materials, energy-efficient practices and preserving local flora, life sciences campuses not only contribute to a healthier planet while creating inviting spaces that attract eco-conscious talent. This approach reinforces company values and fosters a stronger connection between employees and their environment.

Life science campuses as destinations for the community

By integrating public-facing amenities such as restaurants, retail spaces and residential elements, life sciences facilities are becoming community-centric destinations that offer significant value for tenants and the local economy. Durham ID and Centerpark Labs have introduced features like onsite taquerias, coffee shops, yoga studios, and even a brewery to encourage public interaction and increase foot traffic. Durham ID’s mixed-use design, which integrates residential units, offices, retail and lab spaces, further stimulates local engagement, creating a strong sense of community for those who live, work and play in the area.

Wellbeing Transcends Industries

The transformation of life sciences campuses from isolated laboratories to vibrant hubs of activity reflects the growing importance of wellness and collaboration in today’s workplaces, regardless of the field. By creating innovative, flexible spaces that prioritize collaboration and well-being, architecture firms are meeting current needs while anticipating future industry demands. Their ability to create environments that foster innovation, sustainability, and community engagement will be essential in attracting and retaining top talent.

In this rapidly evolving landscape, the partnership between life sciences companies and architecture firms will be essential in creating vibrant hubs for research and discovery that drive innovation and progress. These next-generation campuses offer much more than functional lab spaces; they create dynamic environments where science, community and creativity converge.

Longfellow Real Estate Partners Announces Newest Leasing Activity, Headlined by SWIR Vision Systems

SWIR Vision Systems^® set to take their first office space at Longfellow’s Triangle LIFE Campus

Research Triangle Park, NC (October 7, 2024) – Longfellow Real Estate Partners, one of the largest privately held investors and developers of life science buildings, announced the newest tenants in its Triangle LIFE campus, located in the heart of Research Triangle Park.

Headlining the lease activity at Triangle LIFE is SWIR Vision Systems^®, a leading provider of CQD (colloidal quantum-dot-based) short wavelength infrared technology, that will occupy approximately 15,000 square feet, bringing the total occupancy of the campus to over 90%.

Recently acquired by onsemi, SWIR Vision Systems is now part of onsemi’s mission to deliver the most advanced technologies for intelligent image sensing in applications for the industrial, automotive and defense markets. The decision to establish a presence at Triangle LIFE was driven by the location’s access to top-tier talent, robust infrastructure for innovation, and the building’s existing fixtures such as a clean room, fundamental for the manufacture of semiconductors.

“Our team is thrilled to welcome SWIR Vision Systems / onsemi to our Triangle LIFE campus, a world-class location where innovative companies and individuals thrive,” said Longfellow Director of Leasing Bennett Younts. “The partnership between Longfellow and SWIR Vision Systems is a perfect example of the diverse mix of organizations that create the mosaic of our developments, from life science to technology and everything between.”

Triangle LIFE is an eleven building, 800,000+ square foot campus that is home to 30 leading research and technology companies, including Metabolon, Sensus, Liquidia Technologies, and more. The campus boasts a highly accessible, central location with direct access to I-540, I-40, NC-147, and only minutes to Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

Longfellow has implemented its proprietary services and amenities package, Elevate^TM, into the Triangle LIFE campus, which aims to redefine the workplace with a fully personalized and curated experience for its tenants. While the Elevate service varies from development to development, Triangle LIFE features an intentionally designed central amenity center, The Hue, which is over 7,000 square feet and is comprised of a coffee bar, lounge, multipurpose space, conference rooms, fitness center and studio.

The Research Triangle of North Carolina continues to be a key market for Longfellow as the firm develops life science clusters throughout the region. In addition to North Carolina, Longfellow has spearheaded life science projects in key markets across the East and West Coast of the United States and Golden Triangle in the United Kingdom.

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Longfellow Real Estate Partners is a real estate investment company founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 2009. With approximately 200 employees in bio-innovation clusters across the US and UK, Longfellow partners with renowned universities and pioneering life sciences and technology companies to help bring visionary ideas to life. Driven by a passion to support those working to advance the human condition, Longfellow continues to grow and expand in the name of scientific progress. For more information, visit https://lfrep.com.

Press/Media Contact
Casey Angel: Director, Corporate Communications
+1 (619) 400-7990 • cangel@lfrep.com

Centerpark Labs in San Diego, California was recently named as Life Science Campus of the Year by the San Diego Business Journal in their 2024 Commercial Real Estate Awards.

Longfellow Real Estate Partners’ Centerpark Labs Campus in San Diego’s Sorrento Mesa submarket is a testament to innovative redevelopment and property management that is tenant-centric, while welcoming to the local community. Spanning 10 buildings with a total of 256,000 square feet, this project has elevated the standard for life science facilities. 

The comprehensive redesign transformed the campus into a premier Class-A life science space. Buildings underwent substantial upgrades, including cutting-edge lab infrastructure and a complete interior overhaul, ensuring the highest standards are met.  

One of the most notable aspects of the Centerpark campus is the integration of a range of amenities designed to enhance the tenant experience and foster community engagement. Introducing Longfellow’s tenant experience program, Elevate, showcases the commitment to providing exceptional service and support. Complementing this is the group fitness studio and gym and inviting indoor/outdoor amenity space complete with a common-use lawn, conferencing capabilities, and the popular Hawaiian Fresh restaurant. The campus has embraced a strong community spirit through the inviting space, attracting both tenants and local residents.  

This 16.8 acre project is a model of strategic redevelopment that has created a lively, interactive atmosphere to work and visit. The blend of advanced infrastructure, thoughtful amenities, and community engagement positions Centerpark as a benchmark in the San Diego Life Science Market.  

Longfellow Real Estate Partners celebrated the Topping Out Ceremony for the firm’s latest development, Avia Labs at Millbrae Station in the San Francisco Bay Area portfolio.

The topping off marks a major milestone for the next phase of the Avia Labs project, a six-story, 315,000 SF campus with state-of-the-art office and lab space. Avia Labs will be one of California’s first all-electric life science campuses, designed to LEED Gold and Fitwel certifications with an array of environmentally focused attributes that support its transit-oriented location, which is less than three miles from San Francisco International Airport and steps from the Millbrae Transit Center.

As the development advances to its 2025 delivery date, 39.5K cubic yards of concrete have been placed and 12.8M pounds of rebar installed. Longfellow will finalize Avia Labs’ diverse campus amenities such as its fitness center, terrace with mountain views, large conference spaces, and a public café open to the community.

The entire Longfellow team thrilled to see continued growth throughout the Bay Area region with innovative and dynamic life science companies and institutions. Thank you to our partners, Level 10 Construction and Flad Architects, on the project for your unwavering support and collaborative spirit on this upcoming campus!

For more information on Avia Labs at Millbrae Station, visit: https://avialabs.com/

San Mateo, CA (May 21, 2024) – Longfellow Real Estate Partners, one of the largest privately owned investors and developers of life science real estate, reaffirmed its support of the life science industry throughout the Bay Area and Peninsula region with  the delivery of its San Mateo Science Center campus.

Acquired by Longfellow in 2021, the two buildings located at 901 and 951 Mariners Island Boulevard consist of over 260,000 square feet of creatable Class A lab and office space that will aim to serve a wide range of life science and biotech companies.

The San Mateo Science Center campus benefits from a highly accessible location in the heart of the mid-Peninsula. Situated at the intersection of the 101 and 92 freeways, the property offers a direct connection to the East Bay via the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge interchange and access to Foster City commuter shuttles servicing the Hillsdale Caltrain and Millbrae BART Stations. With its optimized Mid-Peninsula location, the campus will draw talent from throughout the Bay Area to utilize these newly developed lab and amenity spaces.

Construction on the campus upgrades commenced in the middle of last year, with major deliverables such as the first round of move-in ready lab suites and campus amenities that will support future customers. In addition to these spaces, Longfellow is delivering several lab suites ranging from 9,000-22,000+ SF in Q3 2024, with other opportunities for further growth or built-to-suit space within the building.

Physical onsite amenities include a café, collaborative lounge and conference spaces, outdoor patio area, expanded fitness center with showers and lockers, indoor bicycle storage, EV charging stations, and much more. To complement the built-in amenities, Longfellow will also implement its proprietary hospitality platform, Elevate^TM, to create custom programming and events throughout the year that are highly curated for the partners utilizing the campus. Programming is set to include rotating food trucks, volunteer / philanthropic opportunities, and other collaborative group events intended to bring businesses and the community together.

“Throughout our Bay Area portfolio, we’ve been able to make meaningful enhancements in the developments and communities we invest in, something our entire team is proud to be a part of,” said Tara Korlipara, Director of Development & Market Lead. “The Peninsula has long been a magnet for the world’s foremost scientific research & development, and we are excited to expand our offering of world-class space to these visionaries.”

Longfellow is a premier investor, operator, and developer of life science real estate throughout the United States and United Kingdom with a total investment and development portfolio of more than 16 million square feet and over $10bn in total asset value. Locally, Longfellow’s Bay Area staff is headquartered in Redwood City and the firm has developments throughout the region in cities such as Palo Alto, Millbrae, San Francisco, Redwood City, and San Mateo.

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About Longfellow Real Estate Partners
Longfellow Real Estate Partners is a real estate investment company founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 2009. With approximately 200 employees in bio-innovation clusters across the US and UK, Longfellow partners with renowned universities and pioneering life sciences and technology companies to help bring visionary ideas to life. Driven by a passion to support those working to advance the human condition, Longfellow continues to grow and expand in the name of scientific progress. For more information, visit https://lfrep.com.

Press/Media Contact
Casey Angel: Director, Corporate Communications
+1 (619) 400-7990 • cangel@lfrep.com

 

Boston, MA (May 10, 2024) – Longfellow Real Estate Partners, one of the largest privately held investor and developer of life science buildings, today released its first annual report outlining the firm’s commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) pillars. The report highlights business decisions and firmwide culture that delivers lasting value through sustainable building efforts and best practices.

“Since the inception of our firm, sustainable building principles have helped shape our overarching and day-to-day business decisions. Our team has been deeply committed to sustainable building standards and certifications since our first development nearly two decades ago,” said Adam Sichol, Co-Founder & CEO of Longfellow Real Estate Partners. “As a long-term investor, operator, and developer, we take pride in the communities we invest in and are tied to their success for decades to come.”

Highlights from the Annual Report include:

• Longfellow’s portfolio-wide ESG Strategy consists of 15 focus areas, supported by specific, measurable targets and actions to support target achievement.
• Longfellow is currently building two of the first all-electric life science facilities in the State of California and the first in the San Diego region (Avia Labs in Millbrae, California, and Bioterra in San Diego), supporting our commitment to decarbonizing the portfolio.
• The firm’s leadership team is over 50% female or minority. While Longfellow Advance, our nationwide DEI steering committee formed in 2020, supports our continued commitment to advancing professionals from underrepresented backgrounds.
• The first public ESG Report reinforces supports our team’s commitment to share the direction and future, with dedicated reporting on progress toward ESG targets.

“We are incredibly proud to communicate our goals publicly – each of our focus areas are supported by distinct targets and actions to achieve them,” said Lauren Ballou, Associate Director of ESG. “After establishing our ESG Task Force nearly two years ago, this collaborative team has worked hard to double down on Longfellow’s sustainable mindset for future growth that is good for our partners, our communities, and our environment.”

Focus areas throughout the Annual Report center on the three ESG Pillars and include such initiatives as Energy & Emissions, Climate Risk, Health & Wellbeing, Diversity Equity Inclusion, Fiduciary Duty, Cybersecurity / Data Protection, and more. With key achievements and recent milestones also outlined in addition to future goals, the report showcases the true past, present, and future of Longfellow’s commitments. For more information about ESG goals and to stay up to date on the latest news, visit: www.LFREP.com/ESG

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About Longfellow Real Estate Partners
Longfellow Real Estate Partners is a real estate investment company founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 2009. With approximately 200 employees in bio-innovation clusters across the United States and United Kingdom, Longfellow partners with renowned universities and pioneering life sciences and technology companies to help bring visionary ideas to life. Driven by a passion to support those working to advance the human condition, Longfellow continues to grow and expand in the name of scientific progress. For more information, visit https://lfrep.com

Press/Media Contact
Casey Angel: Director, Corporate Communications
+1 (619) 400-7990 • cangel@lfrep.com

Cambridge, UK (May 8, 2024) – Longfellow Real Estate Partners, the largest privately held investor and developer of life science buildings, announced today they have signed a fixed price contract to reposition their CamLIFE campus, with the UK’s leading family-owned construction company, Wates.

Construction on CamLIFE is set to begin immediately which will bolster the 42-acre parkland campus while delivering high-quality, fitted lab space, curated amenities, and expansive green space in Cambridge. Delivery of the lab space will begin in Mid-2025 with the Cam 3 building coming online first, with Cam 1 & 2 shortly thereafter.

“Longfellow will deliver the same high quality and sustainable fitted lab space that we have across our 16 million square foot portfolio,” said Adam Sichol, Co-Founder & CEO of Longfellow Real Estate Partners. “At CamLIFE, our team is creating the next generation of developments to meet the demands of the United Kingdom’s innovation economy and support its future growth.”

“The signing of this contract signals a significant milestone for Longfellow UK and further strengthens our commitment to the UK life science market,” said Tom French, UK Lead and Development Director. “This initial phase will be the foundation of what we hope will be a more extensive, broader vision for the campus.”

Longfellow’s commitment to sustainable development underpins the environmental ethos, the campus, and its community. The first phase is targeting BREEAM Excellent and EPC A. The adaptive re-use design approach has led to a 40% whole-life embodied carbon reduction relative to a new-build net-zero equivalent.

With three decades of experience bringing complex life science, advanced manufacturing, research and technology projects to life, Wates is well placed to partner with Longfellow UK to create sustainable, state-of-the-art laboratory buildings. Wates will also work throughout this project with SES Engineering Services, one of the UK’s leading Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) partners, who will lead on design elements and in particular the specialist Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) systems required.

“We are delighted that we have been selected to lead Longfellow’s first UK project to create state-of-the-art laboratory facilities in this world-renowned location,” said Steff Battle, Managing Director of Wates Construction. “Everything we do is guided by our purpose of working together to create the places, communities, and businesses of tomorrow – these are cultural traits we are proud to share with Longfellow and we will work with their team on delivering this important project.”

Longfellow has spearheaded the development of life science clusters throughout the United States. With more than 16 million square feet located in key biotech markets, Longfellow continues to partner with and support innovative companies and institutions in leading regions.

For more information on CamLIFE, please visit: https://camlife.co.uk/

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About Longfellow Real Estate Partners
Longfellow Real Estate Partners is a real estate investment company founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 2009. With approximately 200 employees in bio-innovation clusters across the US and UK, Longfellow partners with renowned universities and pioneering life sciences and technology companies to help bring visionary ideas to life. Driven by a passion to support those working to advance the human condition, Longfellow continues to grow and expand in the name of scientific progress. For more information, visit https://lfrep.com.

About Wates
Established in 1897, we are the UK’s leading family-owned development, building and property maintenance company. In 2023 we employed over 4,000 people and generated profits of £46.2m from a turnover of £2.18bn, working with a wide range of public and private sector customers and partners. Now in our fourth generation of family ownership, we’re committed to the long-term sustainability of the built environment and to making our industry more inclusive and representative of the communities we work in. We are one of The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality 2023 and an Investors in People Gold accredited company. We are driven by our shared purpose of working together to inspire better ways of creating the places, communities and businesses of tomorrow.

Our Construction business, the largest arm of the Group, works with our partners to create a more sustainable built environment and deliver legacies for the communities in which we work. We deliver complex projects across a range of sectors, including education, residential, healthcare, commercial, and emergency services. wates.co.uk/construction

Press/Media Contact
Casey Angel: Director, Corporate Communications
+1 (619) 400-7990 • cangel@lfrep.com