PHILADELPHIA--(December 15, 2016) – uCity Square has attracted a Boston-area firm to its newest building at 3675 Market Street in University City, Philadelphia. Wexford Science + Technology and the University City Science Center announced today that Cambridge Innovation Center, also known as CIC, will occupy 127,000 square feet and bring its successful model of supporting innovation and entrepreneurship to Philadelphia. CIC will join the Science Center at 3675 Market. There, the Science Center will relocate and expand its headquarters -- home to its nationally-recognized tech commercialization and business incubation programs -- by leasing 50,000 square feet.
CIC creates concentrated hubs of innovation in cities around the world. These hubs incorporate specialized infrastructure and are distinguished by intense, productive innovation communities, making them the preferred choice of seasoned, serial entrepreneurs. With facilities in Cambridge, Boston, Miami, St. Louis and Rotterdam, CIC has been home to several thousand companies pushing the boundaries of innovation, including Android, HubSpot, Tokai Pharma and GreatPoint Energy. CIC’s facilities will feature turnkey office and lab space, with options from a single desk or lab bench to larger team spaces.
The Science Center will build on its 53-year history of supporting businesses at every stage of the startup life cycle by continuing to offer technology commercialization and business acceleration programs that include critical funding, expertise, and business tools. In addition, the Science Center will triple the size of Quorum, the entrepreneur’s clubhouse, to offer more meetings, events, and programming for uCity Square residents and the wider community; and build a larger, dedicated FirstHand Lab that will enable more hands-on STEAM education classes and programs serving more middle and high school students and teachers at more local schools.
“Separately, these are powerful components. Together, they will disrupt and accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship in Greater Philadelphia,” says Science Center President & CEO Stephen S. Tang, Ph.D., MBA. “By joining forces, Wexford, the Science Center and CIC are leveraging their core strengths to support the region’s next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators.”
“Combining CIC's successful model of highly-serviced small office space with the dynamic programming and resources of the Science Center at 3675 Market will create a strategic nexus within Philadelphia’s innovation ecosystem and is a model collaboration for knowledge communities around the country,” says Jim Berens, President & CEO of Wexford.
“At the root of a successful startup ecosystem are communities with ties to great academics and a strong talent base,” says Tim Rowe, Founder & CEO of CIC. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Dr. Tang, the Science Center and our friends at Wexford. I truly believe that, through our partnership, we can help Philadelphia become a global leader of innovation.”
3675 Market will stand 14 stories tall, totaling approximately 345,000 square feet. The building is scheduled to deliver in the second quarter of 2018 and is now 50% pre-leased, with the remaining space available to the market for office, laboratory and retail uses.
The project is being developed by a partnership between the Science Center, Wexford Science + Technology and Ventas. It is the latest development at uCity Square, a planned 6.5-million-square-foot mixed-use community consisting of office, laboratory, clinical, educational, residential, and retail space.
As part of the financing for the project, the Science Center has secured a $2.5 million “RACP” grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. The RACP funds will be used for the fit-out of the 50,000 square feet that will house the Science Center's administrative offices, programs and facilities, including the new expanded Quorum space.
About CIC
CIC is a recognized global leader that creates concentrated hubs of collaborative innovation in future-focused cities. CIC develops innovation ecosystems that support exceptional innovators and entrepreneurs and helps them to translate their ideas into practical, large-scale benefits for society. CIC currently operates 500,000 square feet of office space in Cambridge, Boston, St. Louis, Miami and Rotterdam, Netherlands. CIC has served more than 3,300 companies since 1999, including startups, corporate R&D facilities, and academic labs. CIC companies have raised over $2.7 billion in venture capital to date. For more information about CIC, visit www.cic.us.
About the Science Center
Located in the heart of uCity Square, the Science Center is a mission-driven nonprofit organization that catalyzes and connects innovation to entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. For 50+ years, the Science Center has supported startups, research, and economic development in the life sciences, healthcare, physical sciences, and emerging technology sectors. As a result, graduate firms and current residents of the Science Center drive $13 billion in economic activity in the region annually. By providing resources and programming for any stage of a business’s lifecycle, the Science Center helps scientists, entrepreneurs and innovators take their concepts from idea to IPO – and beyond.
For more information about the Science Center, go to www.sciencecenter.org
About Wexford Science & Technology
Wexford Science & Technology, LLC, is a real estate company exclusively focused on partnering with universities, academic medical centers and research companies to develop vibrant, mixed-use communities. Wexford’s communities are built on a foundation of discovery, innovation and entrepreneurial activity that creates visible outcomes in the form of substantial economic growth, new and diverse jobs and community transformation. Wexford targets strategic opportunities with top-tier research universities that are directly on or contiguous to dense, urban campuses. Presently Wexford has developed twelve Knowledge Communities across the United States. For more information about Wexford, visit www.wexfordscitech.com.
About Ventas
Ventas, Inc., an S&P 500 company, is a leading real estate investment trust. Its diverse portfolio of approximately 1,300 assets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom consists of seniors housing communities, medical office buildings, life science and innovation centers, skilled nursing facilities, specialty hospitals and general acute care hospitals. Through its Lillibridge subsidiary, Ventas provides management, leasing, marketing, facility development and advisory services to highly rated hospitals and health systems throughout the United States. More information about Ventas and Lillibridge can be found at www.ventasreit.com and www.lillibridge.com.
About uCity Square
Located in Philadelphia’s University City neighborhood, uCity Square is a 6.5 million-square-foot mixed-use community consisting of retail, residential, clinical, office, and laboratory space. Surrounded by top-tier colleges and universities, independent research institutions, world-renowned hospitals, hundreds of restaurants and shops, and thousands of jobs, uCity Square is the center of connectivity for residents, students, professionals, and entrepreneurs. Powered by the University City Science Center and Wexford Science + Technology, uCity Square will be the center of Philadelphia’s economic growth in University City by creating a dynamic environment for innovation and collaboration between the private sector and top-tier research institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. The project is a joint development of Wexford Science + Technology, the University City Science Center and Ventas. For more info: www.ucitysquare.com
