With expansion of MBI's biomed center, state and city say Worcester rises on biotech scene
WORCESTER — At Wednesday morning's groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives' biomedical center, city and state officials and members of the state's life sciences industry said the groundbreaking is the latest step in creating a life sciences hub in Central Massachusetts and a larger biomedical industry along the Massachusetts Turnpike.
"Worcester and Cambridge complement each other to make Massachusetts the destination for life sciences," Jon Weaver, president and CEO of MBI, said at the start of a ceremony commemorating the groundbreaking on 17 Briden St.
More: Life science in Worcester is flourishing. Where does the industry go from here?
Weaver said that MBI has worked with local and state partners to develop Worcester as a life sciences cluster and added the success from that initiative has come faster than initially thought. He said that when MBI celebrated the opening of the first project of the Briden Street center, it believed it would take three years to fill the space.
MBI has supported 26 companies at the space and celebrated three company graduations, Weaver said. As companies make faster progress, Weaver said the companies need more flexible space to develop.
On Tuesday, MBI also announced that it purchased the 50,000-square-foot Briden Street building along with an adjacent 7,000-square-foot building from Coghlin Companies Inc. last week.
According to the property transaction form recorded May 17, the property changed hands for $6,210,000. The transaction covers three tracts of land on 17 Briden St., 0 Briden St. and 128 Prescott St.
The expansion was made possible in part by a $3 million investment from Massachusetts Life Sciences Center's research infrastructure program. The total project is estimated to cost around $5 million.
More lab space
Weaver said the expanded space will host 10 labs. The current mezzanine will be demolished and be replaced with a mezzanine that will run through the center of the space to include office buildings that overlook the labs, Weaver said. The ceilings will also be kept high to ensure the maximum amount of flexibility.
"The idea of the building is that you can advance from concept to clinical trials in one address without having to repark your car," Weaver said.
Construction has just started on the space, and MBI hopes to be finished by the end of the year, Weaver said.
MBI is expanding the building based on confidence that the success it had attracting companies to the building will carry on with the larger facility and its faith in the city's startup market, Weaver said. He added that the expanded space does not have any current commitments from companies, but several have already expressed interest.
"We are very confident that by the time it opens, we will have occupants within the space," Weaver said.
The Briden Street building provides the necessary space and flexibility for biomanufacturing that companies will need to complete the processes they must meet to complete Food and Drug Administration guidance, Weaver said.
The exterior of the building will also be refreshed so drivers on Interstate 290 will be able to see a sign of the growing life sciences industry in Worcester, Weaver said.
City 'reinvented itself'
City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. reflected on the city's transition from being a home for industrial manufacturing in the 19th century and the first half of 20th century and the pivot the city had to take with globalization and the offshoring of manufacturing.
"As those jobs in many cases went away, moved overseas, Worcester had to reinvent itself," Augustus said. "Because of our colleges and universities, we've been able to pivot and really embrace the future and embrace the life sciences."
The city also increasingly wants to host biomanufacturing along with research and development in the city, Augustus said.
More: As life sciences industry in Worcester grows, panel says city needs more space for lab
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito displayed a map of the Mass. Turnpike between Worcester and Boston showing off the various life sciences industries and colleges that feed students to the industry.
"What I'm particularly proud of what you've done here at MBI is to create our own ecosystem here in Central Massachusetts connecting to (the Boston area's) ecosystem," Polito said.
Madison Street expansion
Polito also referenced the plan for Madison Properties to develop lab space around the south Madison Street area by Polar Park. The Madison Street lab space is another piece of the ongoing expansion of life sciences in the city.
The Reactory on Belmont Street also landed WuXi Biologics and Galaxy Life Sciences.
The state should think about the life sciences industry in a regional manner, Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy added. He compared the distance from Worcester to Boston to the distance between San Francisco and San Jose in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Kenn Turner, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, reiterated his belief that Worcester can serve as a model of building up a life sciences hub in the state outside of Greater Boston and Cambridge, where the Kendall Square area has long been a major center for tech in the state. Turner said in March that Worcester has the potential to host the next Kendall Square.
"I hold (Worcester) up as the example because you are the model," Turner said. "You're absolutely the model that I want to see spread out to places like Lawrence and Lowell and Pittsfield and Lee."
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: MBI breaks ground for new biomedical center in Worcester
