Ensemble Invests in Philly’s Navy Yard Life Sciences Hub

Ensemble Real Estate Investments has closed on the purchase of three large life sciences facilities occupied by WuXi Advanced Therapies in Philadelphia's Navy Yard. The properties, located at 4701 and 4751 League Island Boulevard and 400 Rouse Boulevard, comprise a collective 366,803 square feet.

The closing on the WuXi facilities expands Ensemble's Navy Yard Life Sciences footprint to a total of five properties that represent approximately 550,000 square feet and $155 million invested. Its other two life sciences properties are Adaptimmune Therapeutics' U.S. headquarters and the currently under-construction Iovance Biotherapeutics facility, where they are the co-developer. All five buildings house—or will soon house—manufacturing, laboratory, R&D, and office space to support clinical development and initial commercialization of novel engineered immunotherapies, including gene and cell therapy. These five buildings, coupled with Ensemble's previous investments in office and hotel properties, bring the company's Navy Yard portfolio to include over 1.1 million square feet and four pad-ready development sites representing $360 million of investment.

"Ensemble is proud to partner with WuXi to support their important work in developing advanced and life-sustaining therapies in the years to come," said Mark Seltzer, senior vice president of development, Ensemble. "The Navy Yard's proximity to the highway network and airport, along with its unique ability to accommodate large-format, low-rise buildings in an urban environment has made it incredibly attractive to WuXi and many other life sciences companies, positioning it as a critical component of our regional economy."

AppTec, which was acquired by WuXi PharmaTech in 2008, was one of the very first companies to move to the Navy Yard in 2004, when it opened a 75,000-square-foot contract testing and manufacturing facility. Over the following 16 years, WuXi further expanded its Navy Yard presence to accommodate a growing demand for non-viral cell therapy manufacturing, GMP manufacturing of viral vectors, and in 2017 set up its Advanced Therapy Unit to enhance U.S.-based cell and gene therapies.

Most recently, WuXi opened a new 140,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art advanced therapies testing facility at 400 Rouse Boulevard which more than doubles WuXi's testing capacity for gene and cell therapies in an effort to support the evolving demands of the company's clients, and which increases the company's Navy Yard footprint to over 400,000 square feet of lab and GMP space. The horizontal configuration of the building, which spans longer than a city block, is ideal for lab and GMP uses by providing for maximum flexibility to support critical building infrastructure required by these highly specialized users. 400 Rouse has also achieved LEED-CS Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council making it one of the largest LEED Gold Life Science buildings in Philadelphia.

The East Region of Ensemble will have the opportunity to continue to grow the company's presence at the Navy Yard, as Ensemble and its partner, Mosaic Development Partners, were recently selected to develop 109 acres at the Navy Yard. Together, Ensemble and Mosaic intend to invest over $2.5 billion to create a vibrant and robust mixed-use campus that will include office, residential, retail, and further expansion of the Life Sciences by creating a Life Sciences ecosystem with companies which produce necessary raw materials, contract manufacturers, and shared GMP manufacturing providers from around the country.