MRA Group Develops Lab Spaces to Keep Up with Cell and Gene Therapy Demand in Philadelphia Region

In response to the growing cell and gene therapy demand in the Philadelphia region, MRA Group (MRA) is pressing onward to deliver by year end, two specialized multi-tenant life science lab buildings: a 65,000+/-SF lab building in the city of Philadelphia and a 72,000+/-SF lab building at Spring House Innovation Park, just outside the city.

“Through this pandemic, we continue to see strong demand from growing in-market life science prospects and out-of-market entrants looking for high-quality lab space,” said Phil Butler, Vice President of MRA Group. “Prospective tenants value speed-to-market, and given the regional demand, we believe pushing forward is the right thing to do.”

While construction slowed due to COVID-19 mandated shutdowns, MRA remains on track to welcome tenants this year to newly developed, state-of-the-art, customizable, hard-to-come-by lab space in the region. Now that Philadelphia is a nationally recognized biomedical cluster, or a Big4Bio region, prospective life science companies attracted to the area have encountered a shortage of available lab space; a concern MRA Group is working to correct.

“A recent study found 98% of commercial lab space is occupied,” said Sam Woods Thomas, Director of Life Sciences and Biotechnology for the City of Philadelphia. “We are excited by and proud of MRA Group’s efforts to broaden our Life Sciences real estate pipeline. Philadelphia scientists and academic institutions are pioneers in innovation, but they need more space to continue,” Thomas shared. “MRA Group’s development efforts are essential pieces to this sector’s continued growth in our city and region.”

Spring House Innovation Park’s new 72,000+/-SF rentable lab building is within the BioLaunch611+ Keystone Innovation Zone and sits on the sprawling, 133-acre, Lower Gwynedd, Montgomery County campus owned and developed by MRA Group.

“When we acquired Spring House Innovation Park in 2017, we sought to create a suburban life science destination,” said Mike Wojewodka, Senior Vice President of MRA Group. “To date, we have approximately 150,000 square feet leased to nearly two dozen tenants, of which nearly half are in the life science industry.  We’ve recently welcomed AnPac Bio, a leading international biotechnology company, while later this summer a gene therapy company, Exegenesis Bio, will be joining our roster which includes Jefferson Institute for Bioprocessing. Based on current leasing activity, we anticipate the 72,000+/-SF lab building being fully leased and occupied by the end of the year, which is why MRA remains focused and bullish on developing these much needed lab spaces for our region.” Companies interested in Spring House Innovation Park, visit  www.springhouseinnovationpark.net.

Additionally, MRA Group, on behalf of a local university, is developing a 65,000+/-SF scientifically advanced, multi-tenant wet and dry lab and office building in Philadelphia.