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Joining Slice of Life Sciences Real Estate today is Roger Frechette who is a life sciences consultant/advisor, helping early-stage life science companies to succeed and to grow. His work with clients leverages an extensive global network and multi-disciplinary insights derived from over 20 years of experience in the business of life sciences, calibrated with an extensive science background.
In this episode you'll learn about:
Frechette’s backgroundHis experience with co-founding a company, and the company’s storyThe services New England PharmAssociates specializes inHis role as Vice Chair of Life Sciences for the Boston Entrepreneurs’ Network and the events they put on Common themes he’s observed over the years from the innovators and companies he has worked withThe primary piece of advice he would give to someone about to start a company in the biotech industryFor more information on New England PharmAssociates please follow this link:
- LinkedInThis podcast is produced by Slice of Media, INC.
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Hi everyone and welcome to episode #12 of Slice of Life Sciences.
We have a great conversation lined up today as we are joined by Chris Bahl, Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of AI Proteins. I have gotten to know Chris this past year, which makes me especially excited to hear about his journey and how it led to this newly founded biotech company focused on the design and engineering of synthetic miniprotein therapeutics.
In this episode you'll learn about:
Bahl's background & what made him want to study proteinHow AI Proteins came aboutThe challenges AI Proteins is solving The culture of AI ProteinsMilestones they are looking to hitWhat Bahl is most excited about for the future of AI ProteinsAdvice he would give to aspiring entrepreneursFor more information on AI Proteins please follow these links:
- Website - LinkedInThis podcast is produced by Slice of Media, INC.
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Thanks everybody for joining us on episode #11 of Slice of Life Sciences.
I’m very much looking forward to today’s episode as I am joined by Jake Lombardo, Co-Founder and CEO at Anodyne Nanotech, which is a venture-backed, preclinical-stage biotech company developing differentiated, transdermal forms of high-value drugs.
Lombardo's backgroundWhere he grew up, and how he gained interest in biotechHis mentors that inspired him early on His time at Union College, and his research projects thereHis time at Tufts University’s Gordon Institute to receive a Master of Science in Innovation and ManagementThe founding of Anodyne Nanotechthe genesis of the companyThe problem the Anodyne team is solving and what applications on the world their science/technology can haveThe Hero Patch Pharmaceutical partners that Anodyne is working withThe seed round received last AprilWhat this means for the growth of Anodyne, and what the investment been put towards The challenges Lombardo has faced with Anodyne Nanotech, and what continues to excite him How he's juggled hiring, fundraising, and managing a team?and about being an entrepreneur: Was there a specific moment Lombardo knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur, or did it happen organically? And any advice he’d give to another ‘Jake Lombardo’ getting his master’s about to start a company?
In this episode you'll learn about:
Jake, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us...can’t wait to continue hearing about yourteams’ successes and growth!
This podcast is produced by Slice of Media, INC.
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Good afternoon everyone and welcome back to Slice Of Life Sciences.
I’ve been super eager to get to today’s session given our guest and what his company has done and is continuing to do as they are pioneering Tissue Therapeutics. I typically like you give an overview of the person and company, but today I am going to keep it short and sweet so we can dive right in. We have Arnav Chhabra, Co-Founder of Satellite Bio with us today, who is working on the next frontier of regenerative medicine which has enormous potential to solve some of the most elusive diseases in the world.Arnav, thanks very, very much for being with us today and allowing the Slice Of listeners to hear about you, your background, and all things Satellite Bio.
Chhabra's backgroundHow Chhabra became interested in biotech and who inspired himChhabra's experience at UT and what his focus of study wasHow Chhabra's projects were able to become funded by the National Science Foundation and how he also became a member of the Forbes 30 under 30 list.Mentors at the university that helped Chhabra discover what he wanted to do after he graduatedHow Chhabra found himself at MIT and Harvard Medical School pursuing his Postdoc?
What you'll learn about Chhabra:
How co-founding Satellite Bio came about, and who was the team that Chhabra had with himSatellite’s missionWhat impacts can Satellite Bio have on people all over the world and, more specifically, describe to us what the impact is that Tissue Therapeutics can haveTheir recent funding - and what this money will be used towardTheir focus right now, and the reach this regenerative medicine can haveChhabra's primary role in the company & it's growthHow the marketplace for Satellite Bio's therapies changed since it startedWhat excited them the most about the potential of regenerative medicine and what can come from thisThe biggest challenges for Satellite Bio, and how important good hiring has beenCompany values that are key components of who Satellite Bio’s team is, & what they're most looking forward to in these next few years
What you'll learn about Satellite Bio:This podcast is produced by Slice of Media, INC.
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In this episode, Mimi Yen, CEO & Co-Founder at PhagePro joins host David Thomann for episode #9 of Slice of Life Sciences Real Estate podcast.
Today makes for another great discussion as we have Mimi Yen, CEO and Co-Founder of PhagePro, which she co-founded in 2016 and is an early-stage biotechnology therapeutics company that develops bacteriophage-based products to help the world’s most vulnerable communities. Mimi has had an impressive journey to where she is and what she is doing today, so I’m excited to dive into together.
What you'll learn about Yen in this episode:
Yen's background and her interests/inspirations growing upDid you have particular people in your life that got you thinking about what your educational interests were and how you could practice these interests in the real world?Yen's undergrad experience, and her research studiesAny mentors Yen had that helped her find her pathHer experience at Tufts as a Doctorial Candidate and later a Postdoctoral Research ScholarAt what point did Yen decide that she wanted to build something rather than start off at a larger company?What you'll learn about the founding of PhagePro:
What was the genesis and how this came about/where Yen met her co-founderWhat does PhagePro aim to do and how will the world benefit from the companies’ mission and solutionsWhere PhagePro is currently focusing its efforts What the day to day responsibilities consist ofA few notable successes Yen has had with PhagePro, and what the biggest challengers for the CEO of an early stage company areWhat Yen is most looking forward to as she continues building and striving for her goalsWhat advice would you give someone in your shoes at Tufts who has found their passion and is about to start a company?This podcast is produced by Slice of Media, INC.
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In this episode, Bernardo Cervantes, Co-founder at Concerto Biosciences joins host David Thomann for episode #8 of the Slice of Life Sciences Real Estate podcast.
Bernardo has a Ph.D. from MIT in Microbiology, Microbiome, and Synthetic Biology and then, I believe, jumped immediately into becoming a Co-Founder, unlike some of the other founders we have had on the show. Concerto Biosciences is less than two years old and is unlocking the potential for microbial consortia…we’ll dive into much more about Concerto along with the responsibilities Bernardo has for this fast-paced early-stage company.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
Cervantes’s story/backgroundCareer shaping experiencesQuestions we cover about Cervantes:
Where did you grow up, and did you have people or events in your life that inspired the interests you pursued later on in life?Did you know what you wanted to study when you got to college and at what point did you start knowing what you wanted to do after undergrad? Did you go straight to MIT after you graduated Cal Berkeley? Tell us a little bit about some of the publications you had during your time at MIT and any particularly important projects you worked on Whether at Berkeley or MIT, did you have any mentors that got you thinking about entrepreneurship or how does a young man like you decide to start something rather than, I don’t know, go to a large pharmaceutical company for x amount of years before taking a leap of faith?What You’ll learn about Concerto Biosciences:
How did Concerto Bio come about, what was the motivation, and who are your co-founders/did you meet at MIT? For the non-PhDs, what does Concerto do in the simplest of answers? What is the problem your team is solving and are you the first company to pinpoint microbial ensembles? What impact will this have on the world or differently put, what are the therapeutic combinations your team is discovering that are benefitting people and what other applications is the future goal? We know you are a Co-Founder, but working at an early stage and growing startup must mean you wear a lot of hats and have many responsibilities…can you share what a day in the life of Bernardo is like? I know Concerto has only been around since 2020, but what notable successes has your team had? You have been in the news lately, which is exciting. As you look back on the past ~ 2 years, how has it been being a co-founder right after receiving your Ph.D. and what do you believe are the key tools that make your team and your culture as exciting now as day 1?What are the biggest challenges a growing and early team like yours faces… Is it as you would have expected? There are a lot of entrepreneurs who listen to this podcast so I always like to ask two questions, 1) was there a specific moment you knew you wanted to be an entrepreneur? And 2) any advice you’d give to another Ph.D. about starting a company?
This podcast is produced by Slice of Media, INC. -
Introduction:
Here we are today on episode #7 of Slice of Life Sciences. I am excited to have Kori Rahaim joining me today. Kori is the VP, Head of People at 5AM Ventures and 4:59 NewCo, a 5AM Venture Company.
Outline:
Have you always worked in biotech or what led you to get an opportunity in the field?
At Novartis, you oversaw theHR function for two innovative research organizations, served on two leadership teams, providing coaching to executive leaders. What were some of the program initiatives you put in place to build leadership skills across these organizations?
So, after Novartis you became an early employee at a rapidly growing startup, Relay Therapeutics...This must have been very different in a lot of ways than your previous years in large pharma...what motivated this transition and what are some of the things you learned being the Head of Talent Acquisition as it pertained to recruiting top scientific researchers and G&A talent in a highly competitive biotechnology space?
Are traditional processes something you challenge in relation to what employees think of as a typical HR leader?
What were the most exciting and hardest aspects of growing an early-stage company?
How did you get connected to 5AM Ventures and was having the ability to lead company culture and talent acquisition for multiple companies at once make for a dream opportunity?
Can you talk about 5AM’s strategy when it comes to finding and shaping these new companies?
The earlier stages in a startup’s life are foundational when building a team, you and your team must think deeply about how all the pieces fit together, especially in the early days.Does this put an even larger emphasis on the importance of building out a team than previous roles in
your career?
How do you build a transformative culture when the teams are so early, or in a virtual/hybrid world?
The 4:59 Initiative is super interesting. Can you share what exactly this is and is it specific to certain portfolio companies or is every company part of this?
How long into a company’s life cycle do you assume an operating role and what are the benefits
you’ve seen from this?
How many companies are you typically working on at any given time and what responsibilities does your role cover? Do you have to have an ability to flex across different roles and responsibilities on a regular basis?
Essentially becoming an extension of your portfolio companies’ team make for a lot going on at once, whether, helping set company strategy, management recruiting, business development and fundraising...with that, I imagine each day brings new challenges?
Structurally, what does your department team typically look like?
Did Covid affect the operational process for a life science company with in-house lab? Do you think anything changed for the long-term and not only the short-term?
What excites you most about the journey ahead for you and your team?
Produced by Slice of Media, Inc. -
Introduction:
Stephanie Sousa, Senior Vice President of Operations at a Stealth Company, who recently joined Transcend Therapeutics as Senior Vice President of Operations. Stephanie has worked in life sciences her whole career for various well known firms in Greater Boston like Novartis, Agios Pharmaceuticals, Odyssey Therapeutics, and now Transcend.
Outline:
How and what made you get into the life science industry?
Did you know ‘Operations’ was what you wanted to do?
You spent over 15 years at Novartis as Director of Operations, Global Discovery Chemistry, Director of Scientific Operations, then Global Head of Scientific Operations...tell us about how your roles and responsibilities evolved and what the experience meant for you working for one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.
What motivated your move over to Agios? How large was the firm at the time you joined then
by the time you left?
As the VP of Facilities Operations, how was it managing a 200k sf footprint across multiple building at University Park?
Agios is not a small company, but what was different in your day to day going from large pharma to a company under 1k employees?
Taking us to the present, did the relationships you made earlier in your career present the opportunity to join Odyssey and Transcend?
What is keeping you busy today and how exciting is it helping a company grow during its earlier stages?
In your experience, what are the most important aspects for an earlier-mid stage company to successfully grow and attract the right talent?
How much of the science do you have to understand when building out a lab facility? Is it important having flexible infrastructure to accommodate the potential future therapeutic areas your firm may get into? There must be many, many considerations that go into the strategy of what you need to ensure the team can build their science?
Structurally, what does your department team typically look like?
Did Covid affect the operational process for a life science company with in-house lab? Do you think anything changed for the long-term and not only the short-term?
What excites you most about the journey ahead for you and your team?
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Introduction:
Winston Yan, Co-Founder of Arbor Biotechnologies who took an idea and expanded it from him and his
cofounder to about 80 over the past 5 years alone and is currently finishing up his last year of
MD training at Harvard Medical School, which he had originally put on pause to found Arbor.
Outline:
How’d you find yourself in this role / sector? Has your background always been in operations?
Are there any specific memories you have from conversations with your parents that started
molding what you wanted to learn more about? To that end, was entrepreneurship in your mind
as well?
You continued your studies after your Undergrad at Harvard by then receiving a PhD and MD at
Harvard...tell us a bit about the various studies and projects you focused on
At what point did you know you wanted to found a company and what was the inspiration behind
Arbor?
So, in 2016 you co-founded Arbor to scale up the discovery and development of new genome
editing tools for genomic medicines, growing the company exponentially, while pushing forward
the early science. What was the genesis of Arbor?
Data mining companies exist — how was yours different?
Has your role changed within the company?
How has your company culture evolved over the years? What are you most proud of from that
standpoint?
Winston, hearing you just describe your journey, although very much short-from, was really
special to hear, especially, your early life and some of the moments that lasted with you forever.
I guess to finish up, with all of the personal, academic, and professional experiences you’ve
shared with us today, are there any other areas of biology that excite you and anything you’ve
been working on in particular?
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Introduction:
Emily Knight, VP of Operations, at The Engine. The Engine, built by MIT in 2017, is a venture firm that invests in early-stage companies solving the world’s biggest problems through the convergence of breakthrough science, engineering, and leadership. Their mission is to accelerate the path to market for Tough Tech companies by providing access to a unique combination of investment, infrastructure, and community.
Outline:
How’d you find yourself in this role / sector? Has your background always been in operations?
How is The Engine’s team structured? Investors, operations, partnerships?
I read The Engine’s defining principle: To support startups that seek to create material positive impact on society. By prioritizing breakthrough ideas over early profit, The Engine seeks to catalyze new fields and push the boundaries of innovation. Found this very interesting. Can you expand on who and what is ‘The Engine’? How, when, and why was it created?
The Engine has pioneered a new framework for investing in and supporting tough tech startups working on transformative technologies clearing a path to commercialization for companies by providing capital, infrastructure (labs, equipment, office space, and more), and a support network. Can you tell us what a ‘Tough Tech’ company is? What was going on in the market to motivate this being the sector focus and has the philosophy shifted at all since 2016?
What are some of the challenges these tough tech (Climate change, Human health, and Advanced systems and infrastructure) companies face between discovery and commercialization?
The Engine’s three pillars are unique and obviously add immense value to companies so how does it work when a company approaches you to when they are up and running in your facility?
The Engine Fund: Investing long-term capital in startups that show great potential and impact. It provides founders with entrepreneurial knowledge, first-hand expertise, inspiration, and guidance to support their transition from technical pioneer to company leader. What milestones are you focused on? Defining product-market fit as well as when the startup begins to scale up to commercial production? What are some of the things you do to help the company navigate through the dynamic market times? I.e. entrepreneurial knowledge, events, work sessions, etc.The Engine Infrastructure: Early-stage Tough Tech startups require the use of specialized and expensive equipment to run an experiment or build their product. How does The Engine accommodate these needs and what sort of facility footprint do you have today and tomorrow? I imagine the infrastructure you build is flexible to mold to various portfolio companies and customer base?The Engine Network: facilitates the creation of long-term mutually beneficial relationships between founders, startups, strategic corporates, policy makers, and investors across the capital stack. How important has the ‘community’ aspect of The Engine been to portfolio companies?In the world of real estate and operations, your team has experienced incredible demand and growth. How did the decision to expand The Engine’s presence to Somerville as well as in Cambridge come about?
750 Main Street must be keeping you very busy as it’s one of the most talked about projects in Cambridge…how has the renovation process gone and how close are you to delivery? How did you think about the fit-out for the new and amazing 750 Main Street project? How many companies will you be able to accommodate and are you looking for a certain ratio of industry verticals?
Tough Tech VC investing has boomed recently having increased almost 50% year-over-year with close to $100B last year. Given the breakthrough technical advances, growing adoption, expansion of business applications, and macroeconomic factors, such as government policies and shifting regulations, how exciting is this for The Engine as you look ahead? Is there anything you see that is holding it back / what are the biggest challenges you are experienced or think you will experience?
Do you view any other markets as having a positive outlook / potential for growth that you are considering expanding into or is the Greater Boston region the focus long-term?
What have you learned from your time at The Engine that you did not expect going in?
Lastly, what’s your favorite part about being part of The Engine?
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Introduction:
Welcome to the third episode of Slice of Life Sciences…This week we will take our conversation from the Life Science real estate industry and focus more so on the ins and outs of managing and running a biotech company. Without further ado, Mark Tebbe, Entrepreneur in Residence for Atlas Venture, whom has had an illustrious career as a serial entrepreneur focusing on drug discovery and management in biotech/pharmaceutical industry with a broad experience involving drug development, operations, and international assignments. Mark has worked as both a consultant and full time at multiple biotechs including 3 years as co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Quench Bio focused on severe inflammatory diseases, 3 years at Quartet Medicine as head of drug discovery focused on peripheral neuropathic pain, 3 years at Forma Therapeutics as Vice President of Medicinal and Computational chemistry building the group and delivering on a broad portfolio of cancer targets, and many more.
Background:
I always find it interesting to learn about personal / educational background;
Where did you grow up? Who/what were the major influences in your early life?Did you have a passion early on or did it evolve as you got older?Where did you go to college and what did you decide to study there? (Notre Dame)Did you decide get your PhD right after undergrad? (Stanford)Throughout your years at Notre Dame and Stanford, did you develop relationships with mentors that helped you think about what you wanted to do / what would give you a sense of fulfillment?Was entrepreneurship an itch you wanted to scratch at a young age or did this come later in your career?Professional Career:
Your first job after receiving your PhD was at Eli Lilly as an Organic Chemist in the area of Infectious Disease and early on you were chairman of a team of ca. 10 people (PhD’s) responsible for all ID targets and the lead generation strategy taken toward these targets. Were you responsible for the organization of the team as well? What were some take ways / lessons on how to build and lead a team that you took with you later on in your career?At Eli Lily you moved to various locations, including, North Carolina and Hamburg Germany, leading chemistry efforts, being directly responsible for overall operations, budget/communication issues across global sites, and redefining site leadership structures; Tell us a bit about how your experiences led you to the major milestones and how your role progressed at Eli Lilly over the years.After 16 years at the same company, the size of Eli Lilly, with well-rounded exposures, you relocated to Cambridge, MA and joined companies that were much earlier in their lifecycles. How did this move come about?What were the main differences and challenges you faced with your transition to FORMA and Quatet Medicine? Was the experience working at a large pharma company for so long invaluable for these new endeavors?The first company you co-founded was then Quench Bio, which was an Atlas portfolio company. You were the Chief Technology Officer for Quench focusing on the chronic aberrant activation of the innate immune system. How did the founding of Quench come about and what was the inspiration? I imagine a whole new set of challenges and lessons came from being an executive and founder so from these 3 years, what is the best advice you would give other biotech founders? Were the similarities in anticipating challenges and being proactive in solutions from your earlier career experiences or did this prove to be a very unique, all around experience?Taking us to the present, you are an entrepreneur in residence at Atlas Venture while working as a consultant in the pharmaceutical industry to optimize business strategies. We’d love to hear what you are working on and what excites you the most about where you are in your career now.How large is your current team and what is on the horizon in the coming years?Is the ability to ‘build’ the most exciting aspect of being an entrepreneur versus working at a large corporation or is something else the main driver for you?General:
Managing a team and a company must take an incredible amount of trust to hold everyone accountable and keep everyone engaged. What are the best methods of empowering colleagues and attracting/retaining talent that you’ve put to practice?How do you self-assess throughout the different stages in your career? Have failures been as valuable as successes?How often to you have dialogues with other industry leaders, mentors, etc. to help you think through challenges and topics that are top of mind for you, whether specific or general?Personal:
Being a serial entrepreneur, how do you balance your life with your profession?What do you do during your free time?How important are the connections and relationships you’ve built throughout your journey in biotech?If you look back on your career, what is one thing you’d wish you could tell a young, green Mark Tebbe?Produced by Slice of Media, Inc.
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Introduction:
Dan Guadagnoli, Director of the Fallon Company. The Fallon Company is a privately held commercial real estate owner and developer of transformative, urban mixed-use environments headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Since 1993, The Fallon Company has developed over $6 billion in real estate, representing more than six million square feet of property. TFC has grown across the US with offices in Boston, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Nashville.
Background:
Where are you from, where’d you go to school, and what were your personality strengths going into the real world?How’d you get into the real estate industry and at what age did you know it is what you wanted to do?Have you always focused on the same market and what’s your focus at TFC? How do you filter through potential development opportunities?How many different departments does TFC have and is the mission the same throughout the markets i.e. core investments, value-add, opportunisticThe Fallon Company:
TFC has a unique vision in their developments, emphasizing collaboration and respect for the community…What goes into ‘Master Planning’ large scale, urban-mixed use environments? Is each asset in the development ecosystem TFC creates intended to enhance the performance of these assets individually?Who’s involved from the beginning, outside of just TFC’s team? Local stakeholder’s architects, community groups, public leaders, etc? How does their knowledge and buy in help your team in what you are building?What does it mean for your neighborhood’s to reach their maximum potential? How important is walkability, amenities, natural/cultural elements, etc? Are you crating a true neighborhood, not just one asset?Different years have different trends where different types of developments will prosper. How adaptable and flexible are TFC’s views? I imagine it is less reactive and more so being the trailblazer? I say that because everyone talks about lab developments nowadays, but TFC developed the Vertex campus in the Seaport before there was any other lab in the entire submarket….Talk to me a little bit about the investment philosophy of your firm. How do you evaluate / manage the risk that any developer goes through and do you take a long-term approach to your investments?Knowing you have a presence in Boston, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Nashville…, how does your team look at each of the markets? Are you investing in a particular asset class for each?With so many large biotech companies in the market for new HQs and/or GMP facilities, how does the process work for a ‘build-to-suit’? Do you partner with the client to acquire land in a certain market and what is the timeline for land acquisition, re-zoning, design, GC pricing, and construction for a ground up project?What’s the difference between a build-to-own versus a build-to-rent? And how much upfront investment would be requirement by a company if they were interested in a build-to-own? Do you share the underwriting and financial models with the client to back into a build-to-rent structure?With covid’s effects, has anything changed in your philosophy? The great office versus lab debate comes to mindCase Studies:
In 2005, TFC transformed nine city blocks of abandoned parking lots into, in my opinion, the most vibrant submarket in Greater Boston. What went into attracting Vertex to become Fan Pier’s anchor tenant with two properties totaling 1.1M square feet and was this key in the fantastic, surrounding retail, residential, and restaurant spaces that truly make the area work, live, play?Fast forward to the present and latest addition, the MassMutual building at 10 Fan Pier, which is a staple office building in the neighborhood. Is an anchor tenant like Vertex or MassMutual common for your various investments?Looking Forward:
What are some of the things you are working on now?Is TFC growing in new markets such as Nashville and expanding in more established markets like Boston equally?What excites you most about looking ahead at the opportunities that you and your teammates are working on / have in the pipeline?What gives you the most satisfaction from what you and your team do?
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Introduction:
Camille White, Senior Associate on BioMed Realty’s leasing team, who is a Blackstone portfolio company and leading provider of real estate solutions for the life science industry with over 14M sf worldwide in major markets like Boston, Bay Area, San Diego, Seattle, NY, and UK.
Where’d you go to school and what’d you study?How did you get in real estate? BioMed?Did you know you wanted to work in the LS industry in some capacity before joining BioMed?What’s your favorite part about your job and how does your day-to-day look?About BMR:
BMR invests in life science and biotech properties in core life science markets.
How important is vertical integration for BMR to get from an idea to managing a fully leased up asset: Leasing, Development, Acquisition, Financing, Asset Management?What exactly is considered a core life science market and how does BMR view expanding in existing core markets versus being on the forefront of growing a lesser market?It’s interesting how many players there are that make up a LS ‘cluster’ and the relationships that make a cluster successful: Developer/Landlord, LS asset expertise and adequate capital, tenants (partnership with landlord), Vetting of prospective tenants (financing/due diligence), Amenities/talent attraction and retention….What is BMR’s playbook for identifying an opportunity and turning it into a cluster within a cluster?What ranges of tenant’s does BMR have in their portfolio? How does your team look at a large pharma company with incredible credit versus a Series B, rapidly growing prospective tenant when leasing up your buildings? Growth is incredibly important to so many LS tenants so how much do large portfolios of assets resonate with tenants in your buildings?What are some of the obstacles you go through when leasing office/laboratory space to a tenant? It’s not one tour then an immediate lease signing…these are massive amounts of money that BMR is investing in the development, but also in the company who is leasing the space and getting a TI allowance of i.e. $225/sf with a term commitment of 10 years….this creates a very real partnership, does it not?LS Real Estate Industry:
I used to think I was in the business of space, but it’s become more apparent to me that I am in the business of people…I say this because the LS is so competitive that companies putting together a real estate strategy will be opening a facility that will need to attract and retain talent when competing with so many other…How important is this to BMR as you evaluate how to construct developments, creation of a community (like mind LS companies), public transportation, proximity to universities, building sustainability, etc? BioMed is one of the most respected LS real estate provider in the world and knows the ins and outs of what it takes to develop or re-develop a proper lab building…What do you make of so many new ownership groups entering various LS markets to convert traditional office buildings into labThe LS industry is going through record high activity with funding’s, IPOs, M&A’s, and partnerships…how is this translating into the real estate landscape?With demand severely outweighing supply, when/if do you think the life science real estate market will slow down?Recent News:
BMR has been incredibly busy this past year from the $3.45B acquisition of Brookfield’s Cambridge portfolio, to your first Seaport acquisition and redevelopment, to the Assembly Square site in Somerville, to even the doubling of size in BMR’s UK portfolio
What are you most excited about for the future with all of these recent milestones?I obviously focus primarily on the Greater Boston life science landscape, but what do you see in the broader market? In Greater Boston, for example, the area went through ‘The Kendall Effect’ where LS clusters have grown elsewhere and grown rapidly due to opportunity…are certain markets expanding or are more and more small, LS pockets popping up?What are the most important pillars to have that make up a successful, major LS cluster?Scientists cannot do their work without a lab, so knowing that, is that a motivating aspect for you? That you are handling the real estate so your tenant’s can focus on scientific research that can change the world?
