Trammell Crow Signs 1st Tenant for Life Science District

Science Square Labs is part of the Science Square mixed-use development in Atlanta. Image courtesy of Trammell Crow Co.

Trammell Crow Co. and development partner Georgia Advanced Technology Ventures, an affiliate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, have both topped out part of the first phase of their Science Square project in Atlanta and signed its first tenant, Trammell Crow announced on Monday, Aug 21.

The building, called Science Square Labs, is part of the Science Square mixed-use development in Atlanta, adjacent to Georgia Tech’s campus. The 18-acre master-planned district will eventually offer commercial lab/R&D space and residential units.

The first tenant is Portal Innovations, a life sciences venture development engine, which is taking 33,136 square feet on the 13-story building’s 10th floor. In a prepared statement, Katherine Lynch, a principal with TCC Atlanta, explained that Portal’s space will include wet and dry labs, private offices, and collaborative space, including an outdoor terrace.

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Science Square Labs is a purpose-built, 368,258-square-foot building designed to accommodate state-of-the-art lab and clean-room space. It will also feature two food-and-beverage spaces and such amenities as a fitness center, conference space and an indoor/outdoor tenant lounge with a catering kitchen, which can be reserved for special events and opens to an outdoor amenity deck, complete with skyline views.

TCC is also delivering six pre-built, fully furnished “graduator” speculative lab/office suites for growing life science companies at Science Square Labs. The project team is seeking LEED Gold and WELL certifications, and the building will feature a 38,000-square-foot solar panel array atop the parking garage, installed by Cherry Street Energy.

CBRE’s Eric Ross represented the landlord in the lease negotiations; the tenant was represented by Dan Lyne and James Otto, also of CBRE.

Besides the lab facility designed by Perkins & Will, the first phase of Science Square includes a 280-unit residential building designed by RJT+R. Both are being constructed by Brasfield & Gorrie and are scheduled to deliver in the first quarter of 2024.

People and money

Atlanta has one of the nation’s fastest-growing labor pools for life science, annually graduating around 2,000 college students in the biological and biomedical sciences as of 2020, according to an April report from CBRE.

That has been backed up by substantial NIH funding—$708 million in 2022—and by both institutional funding and venture capital. The city has seen 20 percent job growth in the life sciences from 2019 to mid-2022, ranking Atlanta 10th nationally.

Last summer, Chicago’s Harrison Street partnered with Portman Holdings to invest in Coda, a 21-story tech-related mixed-use building adjacent to the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.