Brown University inks 10-year lease for lab space in Wexford building

BROWN UNIVERSITY on Thursday announced it had signed a 10-year lease with the owners of the Wexford Science & Technology building to use one of the empty, upper floors as a research and wet lab space. Pictured is Andrew Galvin, with CBRE commercial realtors, who helped market the empty floors to potential life science companies. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

PROVIDENCE – Despite ambitions to attract life science companies to the Wexford Science & Technology building in Providence, the top two floors – designated for those uses – have sat empty since the building opened more than three years ago.

Not anymore.

Brown University on Thursday announced an agreement to lease one of those floors for use as a wet lab-ready research space, with the other floor also being prepped for similar uses by other commercial companies, according to a press release. Both floors, which were left underdeveloped purposefully until tenants were identified, will be ready for occupancy by late 2023, the release stated.

Brown’s 10-year lease for 31,000 square feet of lab space marks the largest commitment for open space in Providence this year, according to John Luipold, Brown’s vice president for real estate and strategic initiatives. The agreement also expands the university’s presence in the I-195 Redevelopment District, with recently announced plans to lease 20,000 square feet in the new state health lab on neighboring property, in addition to its nearby medical and public health schools and administrative offices at South Street Landing.

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The Wexford building, dubbed “Point 225” opened in 2019. The seven-story, 196,000-square-foot building at 225 Dyer St. cost $88 million to build, with help from a $35 million incentive package from the state.

The lower floors, which feature offices and a mix of coworking and community gathering spaces, quickly filled with tenants including offshore wind giant Orsted A/S, Brown’s School of Professional Studies, and Johnson & Johnson offices. However, the building’s owners have struggled to fill its top two floors, despite active marketing and “numerous tours” to prospective tenants in the life sciences industries, PBN reported previously.

Wexford has not yet named a tenant for its top floor, but believes finishing the space as a wet lab will make it easier to find one, according to Gregg Herlong, Wexford’s vice president and Providence market executive.

“One of the trends we are seeing in the industry is a need for companies to accelerate the timeline in establishing new lab capabilities and operations,” Herlong said in a statement. “Installing the critical building infrastructure and systems to create lab-ready spaces and the groundbreaking research that Brown will conduct in their space will make Point 225 and Providence more attractive to a wider range of life sciences companies.”

More broadly, the development helps solidify Providence as a hub for life science research and development, according to Carol Malysz, executive director of Rhode Island Bio.

Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.

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