Hines JV Welcomes Biotech Firm at Houston Campus

Hines and its partners 2ML Real Estate Interests and Harrison Street have signed a 7,400-square-foot lease at Levit Green, a mixed-use life science district in Houston. The tenant is PranaX, a biotechnology company scheduled to move into a turn-key lab space within the development’s Phase I building this week.

PranaX focuses on harnessing exosomes to rejuvenate inflamed, aging and damaged tissues and organs, with the goal of unlocking their regenerative properties to promote health and enhance quality of life. The company will work together with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to create healthy aging products. PranaX will use the new space as the headquarters of its manufacturing, research and development operations.

Levit Green’s centerpiece

Levit Green’s Phase I is a 290,000-square-foot five-story building at 3131 Holcombe Blvd. that features 56,000-square-foot floorplates, a 25,000-square-foot laboratory space, ample bay spacing, grade level doors and dock high shipping and receiving bays. Additionally, the lab and biomanufacturing facility includes a 9,500-square-foot vivarium, a 5,800-square-foot fitness center with an outdoor garden, a conference center and about 3,500 square feet of waterfront coffee bar and restaurant space.

PranaX, in collaboration with Hines, is planning to convert one of the laboratory’s support rooms into an ISO-7 clean room that meets FDA standards. The firm will use this space to manufacture approved therapies, further advancing its research and development capabilities.

Developed in 2023, the building serves as the centerpiece of the bigger Levit Green project. The facility was designed by architectural firm HOK, while J.P. Morgan Chase Bank provided construction financing for the project, according to CommercialEdge.

The 4-acre life science building is close to Interstate 610 and within the city’s Medical Center Area, 5 miles from Houston’s central business district, 5 miles from downtown Houston, 12 miles from William P. Hobby Airport and within 23 miles of George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Levit Green is a 53-acre life science hub adjacent to the Texas Medical Center that will encompass 4 million square feet of mixed-use space across nine buildings. Plans call for a mix of research and production facilities, as well as outdoor amenities, office, retail and residential spaces.

A team of JLL life science experts has been tapped as exclusive leasing agent for Levit Green in 2021. It is currently led by Vice Presidents Sarah Savage and Mallory Kelly, together with Managing Director Chris Wadley.

Houston’s life science megaprojects

In late 2023, Texas Medical Center opened another life science campus nearby: TMC3 Collaborative Building, which encompasses 250,000 square feet of research and life science space within the Helix Park megaproject. The building is part of the development’s first phase, which will also include a 700,000-square-foot research facility.

In August of last year, McCord Development unveiled plans for BioHub Two, a speculative 500,000-square-foot biomanufacturing campus in northeast Houston. The project will rise within Generation Park, a 4,300-acre master-planned development that will include multifamily, office, industrial, retail and medical office spaces.