Oxford, Ensemble/Mosaic Partner for $1.5B Life Science Hub

Life science space at Navy Yard. Image courtesy of DIGSAU

Oxford Properties Group is expanding its U.S. life science portfolio by forming a strategic partnership with Ensemble/Mosaic, the exclusive developer at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia, where the new venture will create a 3 million-square-foot life science hub estimated at $1.5 billion in development.

The agreement includes Oxford’s investment in five existing life science properties owned by Ensemble Real Estate Investments: 300, 351 and 400 Rouse Blvd., and 4701 and 4751 League Island Blvd. Those assets are fully leased to industry-leading companies including Iovance Biotherapeutics, Adaptimmune Therapeutics PLC and WuXi Advanced Therapies.

The deal also covers Ensemble/Mosaic’s first two speculative development projects: 1201 Normandy Place, a four-story, 137,000-square-foot lab building, and 333 Rouse Blvd., a two-story, 105,000-square-foot lab and GMP building. Both buildings are set to begin construction this year. Oxford also plans to partner with Ensemble/Mosaic on any future life science projects at the Navy Yard.

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Ensemble/Mosaic is a joint venture between Ensemble Real Estate Investments and Mosaic Development Group, which was chosen by PIDC, the master developer of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, in July 2020 to be the exclusive developer for 109 acres at the former military base in South Philadelphia.

PIDC, Philadelphia’s public-private economic development corporation, selected the team after a year-long competitive process. In March 2021, Ensemble/Mosaic announced the spec buildings—1201 Normandy Place and 333 Rouse Blvd.—would be part of an initial $400 million first phase of a $2.6 billion development plan that will also include residential, office, retail, makerspace and hospitality initiatives.

When the two buildings are completed by the new partnership, the Navy Yard will have more than 1 million square feet of life science space. The partners envision developing more than 2 million square feet of lab and GMP space for companies focused on R&D and commercialization at the Navy Yard.

The agreement calls for Ensemble/Mosaic to continue as developer and asset manager, while working closely with Oxford, a Toronto-based global real estate investor and asset manager owned by a Canadian pension plan. CBRE acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Ensemble/Mosaic and Ensemble.

Oxford’s expansion

This is Oxford’s first investment in Philadelphia and further expands the firm’s rapidly growing life science portfolio, which includes more than $2 billion of investment activity in North America in the past year. Oxford has grown its North American life science business to 10 strategic markets from coast to coast.

Some of its acquisitions last year included several in the San Francisco Bay Area. In April, Oxford paid $172.5 million for Foundry31, a 402,700-square-foot mixed-use building in Berkeley, Calif., and planned to convert part of it to a life science asset.

In January 2021, Oxford purchased Emeryville Public Market, a 148,000-square-foot mixed-use property near Foundry31 that included ground-floor lab space and had another 60,000 square feet earmarked for a lab conversion. On the East Coast, Oxford acquired three life science assets in the Boston area in early 2021. One property in Framingham, Mass., was fully leased to Replimune Group Inc. and CRISPR Therapeutics, and two more properties nearby were fully leased to Sanofi.

Chad Remis, executive vice president, North America, at Oxford, said in a prepared statement that building a life science business of scale is one of the firm’s main global investment strategies. He said Oxford believes Philadelphia is poised to become a leading life science market because of the confluence of first-class educational and research institutions plus a rich ecosystem of companies and talent that is seeing increasing levels of governmental and private funding. Remis also cited the emergence of the Navy Yard as a center for gene and cell therapy innovation.

Kate McNamara, PIDC’s senior vice president, Navy Yard, said in prepared remarks there are tremendous synergies between Ensemble/Mosaic, Oxford and PIDC. She said Oxford’s depth of knowledge and experience, particularly in life sciences, is greatly valued by the partnership.

McNamara also cited all three firms’ commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) that she believes will set the standard for socially responsible, inclusive development in Philadelphia. In September, Ensemble/Mosaic had announced $1 billion of the $2.6 billion investment in the Navy Yard would be committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. Oxford has already surpassed its goal to reduce carbon intensity from its 2015 benchmark by 30 percent by 2025, reaching 35 percent by the end of 2021.