Business

Tufts Health Plan Leaving Town, Real Estate Investor Taking Over Building

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Tufts Health Plan will leave its offices on Mt. Auburn Street after swapping it with Spear Street Capital for a property in Canton. Shown here, runner gather for the Watertown Police Department’s Finish Strong Road Race. Tufts Health Plan will be swapping its Watertown headquarters for a location in Canton after it merges with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and the building on Mt. Auburn Street will be acquired by a real estate investor.

Development

Residents Air Concerns About Galen St., Traffic & Watertown’s Planning Process

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Town Councilor Lisa Feltner holds a computer showing drawings of a proposed development on Galen Street. She hosted a meeting at the Watertown Library to hear residents’ concerns about the proposed zoning change and related issues. More than 40 residents concerned about a proposed biotech project on Galen Street crammed into a meeting room at the Watertown Library Wednesday evening. They worried about what would be built there, and the traffic impact on one of the most congested roadways in town, and how projects are approved in Watertown. Those at the meeting said they would like to find a way to put a temporary halt to development, at least in the Galen Street area, so that a plan can be formed to improve the whole area.

Around Town

Developer Defends Watertown After Globe Article Poo Poos Town as Biotech Destination

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An illustration of the biotech tower planned for Arsenal Yards. It appeared as part of an ad taken out by Boylston Properties defending Watertown as a biotech destination after a Boston Globe article that said Kendall Square is the place to be. The owners of Arsenal Yards leapt to the defense of Watertown after a Boston Globe published an article about biotech bigwigs snubbing the town as a place to set up business. The Jan. 26 Boston Globe article interviewed biotech execs and investors who said that Cambridge’s Kendall Square remains the place to be.

Arkuda

Biotech Company Announces Move to Watertown’s Arsenal Yards

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The following information was provided by Boylston Properties:

Boylston Properties, a Boston-based real estate developer of distinctive places, today announced that Arkuda Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing therapies to change the trajectory of neurodegenerative disease, has signed a 10,819 square foot lease at Arsenal Yards’ new state-of-the-art life science lab space. Arkuda is the latest in a number of emerging, innovative life science companies to relocate from Kendall Square in Cambridge to Watertown’s booming biotech cluster. With openings beginning this month, Arsenal Yards is the perfect work environment for Boston area companies that hope to attract and retain talent. Arsenal Yards boasts more than one million square feet of development including lab and office space, diverse dining options such as City Works Eatery and Pour House, The Gallows, Tori Jiro, Shake Shack, and Condesa Restaurante and Tequila Bar, fresh groceries from Roche Bros., boutique fitness options, entertainment at the Majestic 7, green space, and more. “The relocation to Arsenal Yards has afforded Arkuda state-of-the-art facilities in what is quickly becoming a dynamic and flourishing biotech community,” said Gerhard Koenig, PhD, President and CEO, Arkuda Therapeutics.

Business

Biotech Company Moving from Cambridge to Watertown

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Biotech company Platelet BioGenesis Inc. will be moving from Cambridge to Watertown. The company that researches platelet-based therapeutics announced it will be leasing lab space at the complex at 65 Grove St., which is also home to Bosch Thermotechnology Corp., Markem-Imaje and Lyndra. The company sent out the following information:

Platelet BioGenesis, Inc. (PBG), the leader in stem cell-derived, on-demand human platelets (PLTs+™) and platelet-based therapeutics, today announced that it has signed a lease for 18,000 square feet of lab space at 65 Grove Street in the emerging biotech hotbed of Watertown, Mass. The space is being built-to-purpose to provide the physical infrastructure necessary for the company to scale its unique stem cell-derived platelet manufacturing platform, advance its core program to the clinic and establish proof of concept for platelet-based therapeutics. https://www.watertownmanews.com/2018/06/12/an-inside-look-at-boschs-watertown-office-where-it-will-develop-new-a-c-heating-technology/

“With a burgeoning life sciences ecosystem of its own, easy accessibility to the biotech cluster in Cambridge and high-quality space for reasonable rates, Watertown is an ideal location to establish PBG’s first stand-alone headquarters to support our ongoing growth,” said Sven Karlsson, co-founder, and chief operating officer of Platelet BioGenesis.

Arsenal Yards

Arsenal Yards Developers Show Plans for Biotech Building

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Architect Adam Gross, of Ayers Saint Gross, shows drawings for the proposed new Building G at Arsenal Yards. It would be a lab/office space for biotech companies. Looking to take advantage of one of the hottest industries in the Boston area, the developers of Arsenal Yards seek to turn the previous proposed residential tower into a biotech research and development lab and office building. Last week, representatives from Boylston Properties presented their preliminary plans for Building G — the last piece of the Arsenal Yards project — during a community meeting. Biotech has already made significant inroads in Watertown, with 23 companies employing about 1,500 people, said Andrew Copelotti, a principal at Boylston Properties.

Development

Planning Board Approves Having Biotech Companies at Arsenal Yards

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The Planning Board gave its approval to allow biotech labs to be located on the second floor of the historic building in the former Arsenal Mall where Marshall’s is located. 

The proposal by Boylston Properties, the developer of Arsenal Yards, had been delayed a month because there were questions about whether labs where biotech research should be located in the same building where retail and restaurants will be located. There was concern that the Town of Watertown did not have the same local safeguards as other area communities. Wednesday night the Planning Board heard from the developers, who also brought in consultants who work with biotech companies and outfit buildings for such lab use. Mark Deschenes from Boylston Properties said his firm did a study of biotech companies in the area and that there are already at least 23 biotech companies in Watertown, with most in East Watertown, and a few on the Westside. He added that there are several examples of biotech companies sharing buildings with retail and other businesses, and that are located near residential buildings.

Business

Council Asks Board of Health to Create Rules, Oversight of Biotech Companies

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Following a wave of input from concerned residents, Watertown officials will look at ways to make sure that biotech labs in town are safe. 

The issue arose in August when the developers of Arsenal Yards proposed changing office space in the renovated Arsenal Mall into space for biotech research and development. The issue is not likely an isolated one, with biotech being one of the fastest growing industries in the United States and in Massachusetts, and other communities in the area are taking steps to attract this sort of company. Residents noted that other towns have regulations for laboratories and some have committees to oversee biotech companies and advise the Board of Health. At Tuesday’s Town Council meeting, Council President Mark Siders said steps will be taken in Watertown to increase oversight of biotech facilities. “Watertown falls a little short when regulating these types of laboratories,”  Sideris said. A memo from Assistant Town Manager Steve Magoon to the Town Council said that the Watertown Board of Health will develop a framework for overseeing biotech companies.