PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread II - Page 52

summersm343 · #**1021** Posted **Mar 29, 2023, 1:39 PM**

BioMérieux tripling Philadelphia footprint with first lease at new Navy Yard building

Quote:

Fast-growing French biotechnology company bioMérieux has outgrown its space at the University City Science Center and will relocate into 32,000 square feet at a building under development at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

It’s the first lease signed for the new building at 1201 Normandy Place, a project scheduled to open in June. BioMérieux plans to move there in early 2024. The building is being developed by Ensemble Real Estate Investments and Mosaic Development Partners in partnership with Oxford Properties.

BioMérieux bought Philadelphia-based Invisible Sentinel in 2019 for $75 million. The new site will house Invisible Sentinel, a provider of DNA detection tools to protect against impurities in food, beer, wine and medical cannabis production.

“This is going to be a showcase for our company,” said Ben Pascal, bioMérieux’s global head of its xPRO Program and chief business officer of Invisible Sentinel

For now, there’s about 45 employees working out of Invisible Sentinel’s 10,000 square feet at the Science Center. The new space allows for the company’s significant growth to continue and for the company to add “quite a number of jobs over the next few years” in both biotech research and development and also in manufacturing, Pascal said. The lease is for 10 years, he said.

Since bioMérieux bought Invisible Sentinel, Pascal said Invisible Sentinel has seen "significant double-digit growth year over year" in both revenue and production volume. Space in its University City location had become tighter as the company increased its employees and operations, creating a need for what 1201 Normandy can provide.

“It’s beautiful. The space and the building we’re moving into is top of the line, state of the art,” Pascal said. “[It] can support our manufacturing operation, has the equipment, has the infrastructure.”

1201 Normandy is the first speculative multi-tenant research and development lab building at the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia. The 137,000-square-foot building is designed to be optimized for cell and gene therapy companies and able to accommodate all life sciences users.

Ensemble Managing Director Mark Seltzer said bioMérieux’s lease proves speculative life sciences development in the Navy Yard can be successful. BioMérieux is taking most of the second floor of the four-story building, which leaves about 100,000 square feet remaining. The Navy Yard is a 1,200-acre campus that's become a hub for life sciences companies. The team of Ensemble and Mosaic is developing part of the property with a $6 billion development plan scheduled to take place over the next two decades.

Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...navy-yard.html

ColdJay64 · #**1022** Posted **Mar 29, 2023, 2:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by summersm343

I have heard that Aritzia is still coming. It does seem to be taking a while though.

Thirdlove is coming to the old Untuckit spot

Mejuri is coming to the old Lush spot

Ali Yoga is coming to the old Modell’s spot. It seems Alo is taking the front ~60% of the space and the back ~40% is being marketed to restaurant tenants with an entrance on Chancellor Street like Pizzeria Vetri next door.

As far as I know, Nike is still coming to the old Jack Wills spot and Parachute is still coming to the old Free People spot. Haven’t heard updates lately on those two though, so unsure if that’s still the plan.

Also, seems like a new restaurant concept is in the works at Alma de Cuba.

Any word on the former Marshall's space on Market? They were saying a new retailer was already in talks about the space but i haven't seen any activity there.

summersm343 · #**1023** Posted **Mar 29, 2023, 2:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColdJay64

Any word on the former Marshall's space on Market? They were saying a new retailer was already in talks about the space but i haven't seen any activity there.

No clue honestly.

ColdJay64 · #**1024** Posted **Mar 29, 2023, 5:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by summersm343

No clue honestly.

Gotcha. That area needs a win.

PHLtoNYC · #**1025** Posted **Mar 29, 2023, 5:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColdJay64

Gotcha. That area needs a win.

Knocking down that entire block would be a great start.

cardeza · #**1026** Posted **Mar 29, 2023, 6:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Knocking down that entire block would be a great start.

I just walked down that block yesterday, at this point I think CVS may be last business open on the entire block, the boarded up section is a mess.

DeltaNerd · #**1027** Posted **Mar 29, 2023, 6:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cardeza

I just walked down that block yesterday, at this point I think CVS may be last business open on the entire block, the boarded up section is a mess.

I hope they rebuild Ludlow street and make it car free too. Also force the new building to have an area where the dumpers can be housed so that it's not sitting on the street.

ColdJay64 · #**1028** Posted **Mar 29, 2023, 7:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cardeza

I just walked down that block yesterday, at this point I think CVS may be last business open on the entire block, the boarded up section is a mess.

Which is crazy because foot traffic in that area remains pretty high. Every time I'm there day or night, it's definitely not empty.

Justin7 · #**1029** Posted **Mar 30, 2023, 1:04 PM**

Another thing the next mayor should be running on: Return of PPA control to the city.

That garage between 10th and 11th is probably the worst remaining in CC.

3rd&Brown · #**1030** Posted **Mar 30, 2023, 1:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin7

Another thing the next mayor should be running on: Return of PPA control to the city.

That garage between 10th and 11th is probably the worst remaining in CC.

The PPA garage above Trader Joes on Arch is essentially brand new and vile. It's strewn with trash (lobby, elevators), windows are filthy, and the parking deck looks like its never been power washed.

When I was there a few weeks ago I actually took pictures thinking I'd send it to the management company to make a complaint, then I found out it was owned by the PPA. Makes sense.

TempleGuy1000 · #**1031** Posted **Mar 30, 2023, 1:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by summersm343

BioMérieux tripling Philadelphia footprint with first lease at new Navy Yard building

I find the design of the commercial buildings in the navy yard to be the most fascinating in the whole region. good stuff

gjrip · #**1032** Posted **Mar 30, 2023, 2:56 PM**

The Navy Yard is so nice. I am loving what they're doing down there.

McBane · #**1033** Posted **Mar 30, 2023, 3:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TempleGuy1000

I find the design of the commercial buildings in the navy yard to be the most fascinating in the whole region. good stuff

I'd agree but also throw in NoLibs where there's also a lot of interesting, contemporary buildings.

jaysb · #**1034** Posted **Mar 30, 2023, 3:18 PM**

Got a shot of Festival Pier dev from the plane yesterday

DudeGuy · #**1035** Posted **Mar 30, 2023, 3:44 PM**

Does anyone know the status of 21 W Girard Avenue? The site currently has a 7/11, and is right next to the El stop.

jaysb · #**1036** Posted **Mar 30, 2023, 4:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DudeGuy

Does anyone know the status of 21 W Girard Avenue? The site currently has a 7/11, and is right next to the El stop.

check out page 50 of this thread. lots of talk on this topic.

BroadandMarket · #**1037** Posted **Mar 30, 2023, 5:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysb

Got a shot of Festival Pier dev from the plane yesterday

All I can see is Petty's Island and how incredible it would be if it was turned into a massive park, marina and maybe a golf course with a bridge to the Graffiti Pier area.

The view from Petty Island:

https://www.nj.gov/dep/njnlt/pettysisland.htm

Redddog · #**1038** Posted **Mar 30, 2023, 5:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BroadandMarket

All I can see is Petty's Island and how incredible it would be if it was turned into a massive park, marina and maybe a golf course with a bridge to the Graffiti Pier area.

The view from Petty Island:

https://www.nj.gov/dep/njnlt/pettysisland.htm

So true. We used to have a crappy little boat in the defunct Marina infront of Morgan's Pier. We'd regularly take that boat over and putter that channel between Petty Island and NJ. It was amazing and we regularly commented on what a waste it was in it's current iteration. I think at that point, it was owned by an energy company and has since been donated and designated a nature reserve.

I think once you go "nature reserve," it's probably pretty difficult changing that designation. It's also another way of saying "we're just gonna let it sit there."

philly_account12 · #**1039** Posted **Mar 30, 2023, 9:05 PM**

Its owned by CITGO (which is owned by the Venezuelan government) and was supposed to be donated to NJ in the 2010s. According to this CITGO's industrial activity was supposed to end in 2017 and then they are responsible for restoration before it is transferred to the trust in NJ. Not sure what the status of that is.

Quote:

The conservation easement rules out most active recreational activities on the island by prohibiting development such as marinas, golf courses, restaurants and ball fields.

Looks like you're out of luck unfortunately.

3rd&Brown · #**1040** Posted **Mar 30, 2023, 10:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BroadandMarket

All I can see is Petty's Island and how incredible it would be if it was turned into a massive park, marina and maybe a golf course with a bridge to the Graffiti Pier area.

A bridge from Petty's Island to Philly would be incredibly expensive because as it would have to be very high. Large Tankers come this far up the Delaware to unload at Tioga Marine Terminal, which is above the island.