Cancer Research Center Breaks Ground in San Diego

The 110,000-square-foot research hub developed by BioMed Realty will foster collaboration between the University of California San Diego and private companies.

By Ariela Moraru

Rendering of Center for Novel Therapeutics, San Diego

Rendering of Center for Novel Therapeutics, San Diego

BioMed Realty, a Blackstone Real Estate company, is developing the Center for Novel Therapeutics, a 110,000-square-foot research hub focused on finding critical treatments and potential cures for cancer and other chronic diseases. University of California San Diego will be the anchor tenant. The project broke ground earlier this month and is slated for completion in early 2019.

The three-story building will be located in the university’s Science Research Park near Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health and will foster collaboration between UCSD and private companies. Designed by Perkins & Will, the facility will include wet and dry laboratories, bioengineering core facilities, research support spaces, clinical space, human subject assessment but not patient care, 366 below grade and surface parking spaces, lecture hall and offices. The building will feature amenities such as a conference center, auditorium, fitness center and café.

The project will pursue LEED Gold certification. Notable environmental best practices include a high efficiency water-cooled central cooling and heating plant with variable frequency drives and a VAV air handling system, LED light fixtures throughout the building and renewable energy from photovoltaic panels and building integrated photovoltaic panels in the glass roof of the atrium.

The developer owns and operates properties comprising approximately 12 million square feet, principally in the main life science markets. Earlier this year, BioMed Realty completed the $337.5 million sale of GSK Global Vaccine Centre, a three-building research and development facility in Rockville, Md.

Image courtesy of Perkins & Will