Groundbreaking: Another LEED Certified Building Coming to The Navy Yard
A rendering of 351 Rouse Blvd. in the Navy Yard | Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc
The boom at the Navy Yard continues to thunder on, as Liberty Property Trust, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation and Synterra Partners officially unveiled their plans for the 16th development inside the dynamic, and ever-growing urban office park.
Adaptimmune, a clincial stage biopharmaceutical company that specializes on the use T-cell therapy to treat cancer, will use the new 47,400-square-foot facility located at 351 Rouse Boulevard as its U.S. headquarters. The LEED certified building will overlook the new Central Green fun/exercise park and is expected to be delivered sometime in late 2016.
Though Adaptimmune started across the pond in Oxford, United Kingdom in 2008, it has distinct Philly ties, as it was developed through a partnership with the University of Pennsylvania. “This exciting new Philadelphia facility allows us to expand our clinical and early commercial manufacturing and control associated costs in anticipation of the commercialization of our product candidates.”said James Noble, the company’s CEO, in a press release. “The location provides us with an environment that promotes strong business growth and innovation, as well as access to a rich pool of scientific and clinical talent that we will use to place more than 110 new jobs to the area in the near future.”
Interestingly enough, the announcement in Philadelphia coincides with the news that Adaptimmune will construct “a major new laboratory and office building in Milton Park, Oxfordshire providing approximately 67,000 square feet of rentable area.”
Philly-based architectural firm DIGSAU will handle the design of the building in the Navy Yard, which, according to the press release, “is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification under the Core & Shell™ rating system from the U.S. Green Building Council.” It will feature a two-story, glass-encased lobby, creating an open and pedestrian-friendly environment. The company also designed the beautiful building at 150 Rouse Boulevard, which was completed in 2012 and houses Iroko Pharmaceuticals.
Here’s another look at the new building:
351 Rouse Blvd, designed by @DIGSAU, will be @LibPropTrust 16th development at @NavyYardPhila pic.twitter.com/U9entLK09Z
— LibertyPropertyTrust (@LibPropTrust) October 9, 2015
The news comes hot on the heels that international starchitect Bjarke Ingels will design a capitvating office building at 1200 Intrepid Avenue that curves with the recently completed Central Green, designed by another titan of his field, landscape architectural firm James Corner Field Operations.
The booming business district continues to grow in more ways than one, including the number of jobs, the count of sustainable office buildings and, most recently, things for employees to do, such as the addition of Marc Vetri’s Lo Spiedo and the new Mercer Cafe. “Our Philadelphia team has been successful in creating a strong ‘sense of place’ at The Navy Yard which was a major draw for our new tenant and has been influential in generating interest from many other leading-edge companies,” said Liberty’s senior vice president, John Gattuso. To date, Liberty and Synterra have developed (or are under construction on) more than 1,580,000 million square feet representing $360 million in private investment.
It’s clear that Liberty, PIDC and crew have no problem attracting businesses to come to the Navy Yard, and all signs point towards their next frontier, which will be to make it a live/work/play environment that incorporates a residential component while also forging ahead with those all-imporant talks about extending the Broad Street Line southward into the heart of the complex.
