CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL INNOVATION SIGNS 10-YEAR LEASE AT PHOENIX BIOMEDICAL CAMPUS
December 19, 2019
Phoenix, ARIZ – Wexford Science + Technology and Transwestern Commercial Services (TCS) today announce the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation – Maricopa Community College (CEI) has signed a 10-year lease for 6,500 square feet at 850 N. Fifth St. in the Phoenix Biomedical Campus. Developed by Wexford Science + Technology, the 227,000-square-foot, Class A research and office building is being leased by Transwestern’s Managing Director Mark Stratz and Senior Vice President Scott Baumgarten.
CEI’s new space will be its second facility and will pioneer its LabForce and Validation Lab programs. LabForce will be the first training and certification center devoted to the workforce needs of Arizona’s bioscience industry. The Validation Lab will help early-stage entrepreneurs with market research and competitive analysis. Opening in Downtown Phoenix in 2020, CEI will operate on the ground floor and offer a variety of in-person, online, and hybrid learning experiences for lab technicians, scientists, quality managers and entrepreneurial teams.
“We’re thrilled that CEI’s second location in the Wexford Science + Technology building puts us in the heart of Downtown Phoenix and on-campus with some of the region’s highest regarded intellectual resources,” said Tom Schumann, CEI’s Executive Director. “There is no better place for the Maricopa Community Colleges to offer exceptional educational programming than in our city’s Innovation District.”
The property is located near Arizona State University’s (ASU) Downtown Phoenix campus. ASU will occupy four floors at 850 N. Fifth St. to further its research and innovation programs in close proximity to the ASU College of Health Solutions and Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine-Phoenix, Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), and the Roosevelt Row Arts District.
Earlier this year, Wexford Science + Technology selected Transwestern to be the first outside brokerage firm to lease space at the Phoenix Biomedical Campus. The commercial real estate company is leasing floors five, six, and seven, totaling 104,000 square feet that is fully lab-enabled and offered for life-science and biomedical companies of all stages of growth, as well as other companies seeking proximity to world-class research. 850 N. Fifth St. is part of a seven-building biomedical campus that will ultimately total more than 6 million square feet and will serve as home to the highest concentration of research scientists and complementary research professionals in the region.
Okland Construction of Tempe broke ground in May 2019 and is expected to finish in fourth quarter 2020. HKS Architects designed the building, inspired by a Saguaro cactus that provides a deeply rooted connection to its place in the Sonoran Desert and is naturally critical within its environment. Ventas Inc., an S&P 500 company based in Chicago, is Wexford’s strategic capital partner on the project.
ABOUT TRANSWESTERN
Transwestern Commercial Services (TCS) is a privately held real estate firm of collaborative entrepreneurs who deliver a higher level of personalized service and innovative client solutions. Applying a consultative approach to Agency Leasing, Asset Services, Occupier Solutions, Capital Markets and Research, our fully integrated global organization adds value for investors, owners and occupiers of all commercial property types. We leverage market insight and operational expertise from across the Transwestern enterprise, which includes firms specializing in development and real estate investment management. TCS has 34 U.S. offices and assists clients from more than 200 offices in 37 countries through strategic alliances with France-based BNP Paribas Real Estate and Canada-based Devencore. Experience Extraordinary at transwestern.com and @Transwestern.
ABOUT WEXFORD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Wexford Science & Technology, LLC is a real estate company exclusively focused on partnering with universities, academic medical centers and research companies to develop vibrant, mixed-use communities. Wexford’s communities are built on a foundation of discovery, innovation and entrepreneurial activity that creates visible outcomes in the form of substantial economic growth, new and diverse jobs and community transformation. Wexford has developed fourteen Knowledge Communities across the U.S.: the Bio-Research & Development Growth (BRDG) Park (Danforth Plant Science Center) in St. Louis, MO; Cortex Innovation Community (Washington University in St Louis) in St. Louis, MO; Downtown Crossing (Yale University) in New Haven, CT; Hershey Center for Applied Research (Penn State School of Medicine) in Hershey, PA; Innovation Research Park @ODU (Old Dominion University) in Norfolk, VA; Providence Innovation & Design District (Brown University, University of Rhode Island) in Providence, RI; The Chesterfield (Duke University) in Durham, NC; uCity Square (University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University) in Philadelphia, PA; University of Maryland BioPark in Baltimore, MD; Converge Miami (University of Miami) in Miami, FL; Phoenix Biomedical Campus (Arizona State University) in Phoenix, AZ; University of Pittsburgh Innovation Center in Pittsburgh, PA; University Technology Park at IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) in Chicago, IL; and Wake Forest Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem, NC. More information about Wexford can be found at www.wexfordscitech.com.
Media Contact:
Stefanie Lewis