NexCore Group has announced plans to develop Waterway Labs at 16 Tech in Indianapolis, with Cushman & Wakefield providing agency leasing services for the $60 million development.
The development is a purpose-built life sciences lab building offering graduation lab space for growing companies.
Denver-based NexCore anticipates breaking ground in 2024 on the 100,000-square-foot life-sciences focused lab building at 1206 Waterway Blvd. within the 16 Tech Innovation District. 16 Tech is a 50-acre destination for entrepreneurship and innovation, located adjacent to the future campuses of Indiana University Indianapolis and Purdue University in Indanapolis. Opened in 2020, 16 Tech is intentionally resourced with the facilities and programs to support innovation-driven entrepreneurship and applied research opportuntities.
The district boasts more than 200+ innovation related entities, including a growing cluster of startups in life sciences, health tech and med tech industries as well as the resources to facilitate the prototyping and development of physical products in a variety of industries and at industrial scale. 16 Tech anchor tenants include the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, a leading translational research institute with capabilities in diabetes, Alzheimers and pediatric rare disease research, and the Emerging Manufacturing Collaboration Center with strengths in autonomous vehicle technology, Industry 4.0 implementation and additive manufacturing.
Recognizing the robust infrastructure in Indiana, the U.S. Department of Commerce recently designated Indiana as a tech hub, with a winning application submitted by Heartland BioWorks, a consortium of state entities that includes 16 Tech, colleges and universities, industry groups and some of the state’s largest employers. In addition, 16 Tech was recently named a spoke of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Investor Catalyst Hub based in Boston, another indicator of the resources available to support commercialization of health innovation.
Owens and Cushman & Wakefield’s Joshua Graham will lead leasing for Waterway Labs. The five-story development will include two types of space as part of NexCore’s HATCHspaces operating platform: HATCHlabs and HATCHx.
HATCHlabs will include four levels with 22,000-square-foot floorplates, featuring: warm shell lab enabled space, purpose-built for tenants needing to design their optimal suite layout with long-term leases; support for BSL-1 and BSL-2 level labs; 16-foot floor-to-floor/15-foot 6-inches clear height; 100 PSF live floor loading and 20 PSF dead load; floor vibration criteria of 6,000 mips; 20 watts/RSF of electrical capacity; 274-watt diesel emergency generator; 100% outside air with six-air changes per hour; break and lounge areas; common restrooms; and common chemical waste storage room.
The HATCHx floor will offer eight turnkey lab suites of 2,000 square feet plus 10 offices in a co-working environment, where tenants can lease single lab suites and single office suites based on their space needs. Features include turn-key, fully furnished lab suites supporting BSL-1 and BSL-2 level labs; common freezer farm; and shared conference room.