University of Miami Life Science & Technology Park Leases 10,000 SF of Office & Lab Space

May 5, 2011 - PRLog -- In the newest example of the University of Miami Life Science & Technology Park’s (UMLSTP) potential as a hub for entrepreneurial advancement and biotechnology research, Wexford Miami, LLC has completed a series of leases representing the most recent additions to the park.  The new tenants include the Community Blood Centers of South Florida and medical device firm Emunamedica, LLC.  The tenants will be located in the park’s first phase building, a 252,000 square foot facility housing wet and dry labs, offices and retail space, all intended to help knowledge-based research and product development firms foster innovation and commercialize technology for public use and benefit.

The building, scheduled to open in less than three months, is nearly 45% pre-leased with tenants that include medical device firm Daya Medicals, the University of Miami Tissue Bank, national intellectual property law firm Novak Druce + Quigg, and the Enterprise Development Corporation of South Florida (EDC).

“The diversity of our tenant base demonstrates how the University of Miami Life Science & Technology Park is pulling together companies and organizations with a range of objectives, including advancing their discoveries and leveraging the park’s proximity to some of the nation’s top hospitals and research institutes,” said William Hunter, project leasing manager at UMLSTP.  “This diversity will be a key ingredient in the clusters’ halo effect that takes shape as the park matures.  At the same time, the park is impacting the Miami real estate market and broader economy, luring new companies and creating jobs.”
           
The Community Blood Centers of South Florida is one of the nation’s largest specialty blood banks and the region’s chief blood collection and distribution organization, servicing roughly 95% of the hospitals located from West Palm Beach to Key West.  The nonprofit organization’s UMLSTP facility will comprise of specialty research labs for compatibility testing of blood samples, as well as a distribution center that will serve medical centers in the area, including research institutes and hospitals located within the Miami Health District.  The Community Blood Centers of South Florida will operate the facility 24-hours a day, employing approximately 20 people.
           
Emunamedica will relocate its research and development functions as well as corporate offices from Broward County to UMLSTP’s Innovation Center, which is comprised of almost 25,000 square feet of pre-built turnkey laboratory and office space intended for early stage companies seeking to advance their work.  The Innovation Center will open along with the main building in June of 2011.  The firm is developing a unique diagnostic technology designed to measure healing rates in ulcer wounds.  Market size of treatments for these wounds add up to a roughly $5 billion annual price tag. The firm plans to create approximately 25 new jobs at the facility.

“The project’s newest leases represent positive absorption of commercial space in Miami, not just movement of tenants from one building to another,” said Richard Schuchts, senior vice president for Jones Lang LaSalle, Wexford’s leasing agents at UMLSTP.  “Each of the park’s tenants are either expanding their local presence or establishing a new foothold in the region.”

The UMLSTP’s current master plan includes five buildings comprising between 1.6 and 2 million square feet of space at full build out.  In addition to lab and office space, the park will contain restaurants and retail to serve the Miami Health District and residents of nearby neighborhoods.  The development of the park’s first building is projected to create more than 1,150 direct and indirect jobs, with an additional 2,700-plus direct and indirect positions created by ongoing operations, according to a recent study by the Washington Economics Group.
           
To learn more about the park or to inquire about leasing opportunities, contact Bill Hunter of Wexford Miami LLC at (305) 298-4578 or the Miami-based Jones Lang LaSalle team of Richard Schuchts, Catarina Jimenez and Gavin Macphail at umpark@am.jll.com or (305) 728-8999.

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The University of Miami Life Science & Technology Park is a predominantly privately-funded endeavor developed by Wexford Miami, LLC, a subsidiary of Wexford Science & Technology, LLC, in collaboration with the University of Miami. Located in Miami’s Health District and adjacent to the UM Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, the park will be home to best-in-class research facilities that bridge academia and industry, thereby fostering collaboration and innovation that positively affects people around the world. Development of the park will also make a direct impact on the S. Fla. economy, resulting in the creation of jobs and further diversifying the region’s economic landscape. UM LSTP is located on an 8.8 acre site bounded by Interstate-95 on the east, NW 7th Avenue on the west, NW 17th Street on the south and NW 20th Street on the north. Construction of phase one of the park began in late 2009 and is scheduled for completion in mid-June 2011. Please learn more at www.umlstp.com.