As published here in The Business Journals PHLINNO
By Nisa Hunt – Senior Marketing Director, Netrality Data Centers
Philadelphia, a city steeped in historical significance, is forging a new legacy at the forefront of bioscience innovation. Fueled by a thriving cluster of research institutions and forward-thinking startups, this dynamic life sciences scene demands top-notch lab and office spaces — reshaping the city and revolutionizing the concept of workspaces.
Philadelphia’s Thriving Bioscience Ecosystem
Philadelphia’s bioscience sector encompasses various fields, from pharmaceuticals and medical devices to genomics and personalized medicine. These disciplines share a common goal: developing solutions that address some of the world’s most pressing challenges in health care, agriculture, industry, and the environment.
This flourishing sector owes much of its success to Philadelphia’s strategic proximity to distinguished educational and medical institutions. The city’s wealth of talented professionals has led to the formation of life sciences clusters, making it a magnet for research and development activities. According to CBRE’s recently released 2023 U.S. Life Sciences Outlook report, Philadelphia boasts the sixth largest life sciences talent pool in the U.S., drawing interest from out-of-market tenants and further solidifying Philadelphia’s status as an industry leader.
CBRE’s report also highlights Philadelphia’s impressive rank of No. 8 in the country with 9,665,840 square feet of dedicated life sciences inventory. The city has 2,767,460 square feet of life sciences space under development, bringing Philadelphia’s life sciences construction to No. 4 in the country.
Key hubs, such as the “Cellicon Valley” corridor near the University of Pennsylvania, the Navy Yard, and other burgeoning campuses, contribute to Philadelphia’s ecosystem. While the city’s remarkable growth rate sets it apart, the demand for lab-ready space is a challenge for emerging fields like cell and gene therapy startups.
Multi-tenant facilities expand life sciences resources in Philadelphia
Multi-tenant facilities play a crucial role in expanding life sciences resources within Philadelphia’s urban landscape. Emerging bioscience sectors such as mRNA and novel therapeutics, are driving shifts towards more compact, urban environments — a departure from the sprawling campuses of the past. This transition allows Philadelphia to maintain its competitive edge in supporting the growth of life sciences with existing space.
Flexible lease arrangements make Philadelphia multi-tenant facilities particularly attractive, eliminating the need for substantial upfront investments from individual companies. This streamlined approach opens doors to high-tech spaces, making them accessible to smaller enterprises or bio and life sciences firms. Companies have access to top-tier infrastructure in multi-tenant facilities, enabling them to focus on what matters most — cutting-edge research to drive advancements in their field.
Within these facilities, a collaborative ecosystem thrives. Companies can harness capacity for infrastructure, equipment, utilities, maintenance, and administrative services. Sharing space in buildings creates an environment where companies can network, collaborate on research projects, and tap into a diverse pool of expertise. This fosters a culture of innovation and knowledge exchange.
The Unique Position of 401 North Broad
Netrality’s 401 North Broad offered Biomeme, a leading mobile molecular developer, a blank canvas to design their new corporate headquarters. With 44,000 square feet at their disposal, they worked closely with Strada Architecture LLC to create a space that met all their needs, from offices to diverse research and development laboratories to manufacturing operational space. This transformation represents Biomeme’s commitment to innovation and the potential for other companies to thrive within 401 North Broad’s dynamic ecosystem.
The customizable space offered flexible layouts, advanced equipment integration, stringent power, and security solutions tailored to bioscience research.
- Room to grow: Space to accommodate their existing team and provide ample room to expand or acquire new floors for buildouts.
- Prime location: Center City Philadelphia offers accessibility and proximity to the resources vital for biotech innovation.
- Laboratory-friendly environment: The building’s infrastructure met the rigorous lab work and manufacturing demands.
- A collaborative community: Being in a building that hosts other life sciences and tech-forward companies creates collaboration zones that foster synergy for groundbreaking research.
- Top-notch amenities: Amenities enhance the work environment — secure access loading docks, dedicated lab exhaust riser, 10,000-pound freight elevators, executive conference rooms, bike rooms, and more.
- Power generation onsite: High-capacity generators designed to activate automatically for seamless power and operational flow.
- Advanced technology: Smart labs leveraging AI, IoT, and robotics enhance productivity and integrated onsite data center infrastructure is available.
401 North Broad: Powering Philadelphia’s Bioscience Future
Today, leading life sciences, digital health, and tech-enabled companies can come together at 401 North Broad to uncover progressive infrastructure. This 1.3 million-square-foot historic building spans an entire city block, housing a state-of-the-art data center, creative office and lab/office suites, and street-level retail. With entire floors of customizable workspace, startups and established firms can design environments that align with their unique operational needs and scientific endeavors. While businesses may not be aware of the network connectivity advantages offered by proximity to data center ecosystems, they will undoubtedly benefit from robust security and uninterrupted power reliability for their workspace.
The building ensures uninterrupted power through multiple sources and backup systems, including onsite power generation. This provides continuous power availability, even in the face of unforeseen disruptions. Reliability is vital for bio and life sciences companies conducting sensitive research and experiments, as it minimizes downtime, safeguards critical operations, and ultimately, their capacity to make sustained progress.
Philadelphia’s bioscience ecosystem is on an upward trajectory, driven by innovation, talent, and a thriving community of businesses. As the industry evolves, the city responds with innovative solutions.
401 North Broad embodies this commitment as an innovation catalyst. Philadelphia’s status as a bioscience and tech powerhouse is elevated by the prioritization of adaptable spaces, advanced network integration, floor-by-floor amenities, and collaborative environments. Offering abundant space, cutting-edge labs, and data-intensive solutions, 401 North Broad is a haven for firms poised on the brink of discovery or ambitious startups alike. It’s an ideal canvas for painting the future of health care, biotechnology, and research.
Discover your place in the dynamic ecosystem at 401northbroad.com today and reach out to sales@netrality.com for more information.
Netrality Data Centers owns and operates strategic interconnection data centers and Meet Me Rooms, providing a mix of colocation, powered shell, and wholesale data center solutions driven by fiber-dense, network-rich environments. Netrality’s core interconnection data centers provide best in market network resiliency, ensuring always-on connectivity for latency-sensitive and mission-critical businesses.