Madison Properties is hoping that life science is a natural complement to Worcester’s brand-new minor league baseball stadium, as it markets 201,000 square feet of lab space and prepares to break ground on an apartment complex next to Polar Park. Image courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects

With its biotech incubators nearly full and biomanufacturing developers building out new production facilities, Worcester is looking to fill the missing link in its life science ecosystem. 

Madison Properties’ 1 million-square-foot master-planned development next to Polar Park stadium could become the site of a major new lab project, depending upon the industry’s response to leasing efforts for the planned 201,000-square-foot development. 

Worcester would join an ever-expanding list of Massachusetts communities where lab developers are testing the waters, and it’s offering one major advantage over Boston-area communities: steep discounts in asking rents. But Madison Properties President Denis Dowdle expects the project at 10 Green Island Blvd. to sink or swim based upon its ability to attract homegrown talent, not transplants. 

“Our sense is we’re likely to have a tenant that has some connection or reason to be in Worcester. It’s not going to be because Waltham got too expensive,” said Dowdle, who is seeking a significant anchor lease to begin construction. 

Demand Fueled by Universities 

The University of Massachusetts Medical School received a record $291 million in National Institutes of Health funding in 2020, ranking eighth among all public medical schools in the U.S. Incubator spaces run by economic development organization Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (MBI) in Worcester are occupied by 58 companies and are essentially at capacity, including a new scale-up center that opened last August at Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Gateway Park research campus. Many of the incubator companies specialize in cell and gene therapies, MBI CEO Jon Weaver said. 

“Worcester today feels like being in Cambridge in the 1990s,” Weaver said. 

Approximately 30 percent of MBI tenants expand within the city of Worcester, but lack of lab supply has forced others to move elsewhere in the Bay State. 

“There hasn’t always been the right space for them to move into at the right time,” he said. 

Madison Properties hired JLL to market the lab building that’s projected to be available for tenant fit-outs within 18 months of groundbreaking. Many biotechs seek to move into expansion spaces within 12 months after receiving new funding, Dowdle said, but may be adjusting their timelines because of the tight market supply. 

That makes the potential completion date in 2023 an important milestone, when lab supply starts to catch up to demand across the Bay State. According to Colliers International data, developers are set to deliver 18 million square feet of lab space in 2023, amid a wave of new developments and office conversions. 

JLL already has had discussions with three potential tenants for 10 Green Island Blvd. – including one from the Boston area – all of which have received venture capital funding, said Bob McGuire, a managing director for JLL Boston. 

Market Will Determine Timing and Phases 

While in talks with lab tenants, Madison Properties is nearing a groundbreaking of the first residential phase of its master-planned development next to the Worcester Red Sox stadium. The developer originally acquired 18 acres from manufacturer Wyman-Gordon in the Worcester Canal District in 2019, and deeded the 9,500-seat minor-league stadium parcel spanning 6 acres to the city of Worcester last October. 

The master plan approved by Worcester officials has flexibility to build various uses on the remainder of the site depending upon market demand, including office space, hotels and multifamily housing. Madison Properties is finalizing construction financing for a 5-story, 228-unit apartment complex at 115 Madison St., expected to break ground within 60 days, Dowdle said. 

Three other developers are proposing substantial multifamily projects in the immediate neighborhood.  

Needham-based Gold Block Real Estate seeks to build a 13-story, 380,000-square-foot complex on a block of eight parcels behind the ballpark’s right-field wall. 

Boston Capital Development is planning an initial phase of 81 affordable apartments at the Table Talk Pies property on Washington Street. 

And Atlanta-based developer Wood Partners is hoping to build 371 apartments on the former site of a downtown Worcester church a short walk to the north, on the other side of the city’s MBTA commuter rail station. 

For the remainder of Madison Properties’ parcels, a 120-room hotel could break ground as soon as 2022, depending upon the speed of the hospitality market recovery, Dowdle said. A second apartment building is planned on a parcel opposite the lab site, but no timetable has been set. And another parcel could include offices or housing. 

The eventual creation of a mixed-use destination – and the buzz associated with the May 11 opening of the AAA league stadium’s inaugural season – could be a decision-maker for life science companies weighing a lease at 10 Green Island Blvd. 

“If you’re trying to attract scientists and intellectual capital, rather than being in the back of a nondescript office park, you can be in the middle of this exciting district with a vibe that’s already established,” Dowdle said.