Lab To Wall Street: Q3

            It has been an extremely exciting quarter for New York. On August 10^th, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the selection of Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (Alexandria) as the developer for the East River Science Park (ERSP).  The East River Science Park will be the largest commercial bioscience center in New York City with 870,000 square feet located in the heart of Manhattan’s East Side Medical Corridor. Alexandria plans to break ground in 2006, with initial tenant occupancy of the first building in 2008 and the second building in 2009.

            The press conference marked the culmination of a lengthy and difficult selection process.  When we at the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) put out a request for proposals for the ERSP site, we had no idea what the reaction from the developer community would be.  We know that New York City has tremendous life science assets: our 11 renowned medical and research centers, 128 Nobel Laureates and over $1.3 billion annually in NIH funding.  But despite these numbers, we were concerned that our relative lack of commercial bioscience activity when compared to a Boston or San Diego would be a deterrent to developers.

            We needn’t have worried.  We received a number of excellent proposals from the top bioscience developers in the world.  Our task then became difficult in a different way: how do you select the best of the best?  After many presentations, meetings and discussions, we selected Alexandria to develop the ERSP.  We selected Alexandria for a variety of reasons: their experience, their vision, and their commitment to New York City. Alexandria is a leading real estate investment trust focused on the development, ownership, operation, management and acquisition of properties containing office and laboratory space.  Their extensive portfolio is solely comprised of life science properties, and they currently manage 127 properties totaling 8.2 million square feet in all the major life science markets around the world. 

            Alexandria’s vision for its properties is based on the principle of “clustering.”  They believe that each life science property should be the gathering point for the bioscience community and reflect each community’s bioscience excellence.  This vision matched our goal at the NYCEDC: to create a physical space where New York City’s bioscience industry can grow and flourish. 

            Finally, during the request for proposal process Alexandria demonstrated its commitment to New York City.  As part of its proposal, Alexandria committed to build the first two buildings of a three building design without any preleasing requirements.  They were willing to make this commitment based on their view of the strength of New York City’s bioscience assets. We felt that this commitment was an enormous vote of confidence in New York City, and again reflected our view that they understood our goals in building this industry.

            In addition to our choice of top developers, this project has benefited from both public and private support.  At the press conference, the Mayor was joined at the podium by Alexandria CEO Joel Marcus and many of New York City’s leading figures, including host Dr. Harold Varmus of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding Daniel L. Doctoroff, Economic Development President Andrew M. Alper, Health & Hospitals Corporation Acting President Alan D. Aviles, Bellevue Hospital Executive Director Linda Curtis, and Kathryn Wylde, President & CEO of the Partnership for New York City.  The Health & Hospitals Corporation, the Partnership for New York City and the academic medical center leaders have been integral members of this effort, and it would not have been successful without them. 

The Health and Hospitals Corporation, whose Bellevue site is right next door to the ERSP development, had the vision to see the benefits that the ERSP would bring to our commercial and scientific communities. And the New York City Investment Fund, the economic development and investment arm of the Partnership for New York City, has committed $10 million to the ERSP.  They have also committed a great deal of time to supporting the NYCEDC’s efforts to build this sector, from the leadership of Investment Fund Chairs Henry Kravis and Russ Carson to the support of Kathyrn Wylde and the President and Co-CEO of the New York City Investment Fund (NYCIF) Maria Gotsch. NYCIF has also committed additional funds to invest in NYC biotechnology companies.

            This project would never be possible, and New York City would never be a world leader in bioscience, without our academic and research institutions.  From the heads of the institutions, who have supported this project from the beginning, to the individual researchers who are making breakthrough discoveries every day, we at the NYCEDC thank you for your brilliance and your support.  We look forward to making the ERSP, and New York City, a place where you can continue to grow and flourish.  If you would like additional information about the East River Science Park, please call or e-mail me, Monique Salazar at msalazar@nycedc.com or my colleague Bill Fair, at bfair@nycedc.com or 212-312-3836.