Legislators’ decision to approve 3.5 million square feet of development at Devens will give the state-run business park more flexibility to attract major tenants. MIT startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems opened the first phase of its fusion energy campus in late 2022. Photo by Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff

Devens’ newest corporate tenant is a $1.2 billion French life science company that supplies pharmaceutical ingredients including ones used in COVID-19 vaccines. 

As Seqens Group opened its new flagship North American R&D facility at the 4,400-acre business park northwest of Boston, CEO Pierre Luzeau predicts the life science ecosystem will grow around it, as it seeks new deals with early-stage biotechs and big pharma companies alike. 

“Massachusetts is the most dynamic state in the world in drug discovery, and we are in a business where proximity is very important to our customers,” Luzeau said. 

Until last fall, the potential for life science companies and other commercial tenants to expand significantly at Devens was limited. Then the state legislature lifted a statutory ceiling on total commercial development at Devens, increasing it by 3.5 million square feet to 12 million square feet. 

“We’re set to grow into the 21st century,” gloated Peter Lowitt, director of the Devens Enterprise Commission, as economic development officials filtered into the new Seqens Group facility for a tour last week. 

The building cap dates back to 1994, as redevelopment began at the former Army base located in the towns of Ayer, Harvard and Shirley. Attempts to lift the maximum amount of development date back to 2006, Lowitt said. 

Last summer, the select boards of the three towns agreed to support the change. Without the increase, officials predicted, Devens would have been forced to halt new development as soon as late 2023. 

Undeveloped parcels include 140 acres on Salerno Circle, which require additional environmental studies related to past use of pesticides by the Army, but could be suitable for a large corporate or life science campus, Lowitt said. Additional development sites are located on Saratoga Street and Hospital Road. 

The next step for MassDevelopment officials: deciding which parcels will deliver the most benefits and will be offered first to developers. 

“We have so much flexibility here,” said Tania Hartford, MassDevelopment’s chief operating officer. “We could put sites together. It’s nice to have the cap lifted. We have a lot of wiggle room and room to grow.” 

French drug ingredient researcher and manufacturer Seqens Group is doubling its workforce and research space at Devens, Photo by Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff

A Pathway to Growth for King Street 

Rapid recent development, including a 700,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing campus under way by Boston-based King Street Properties, brought Devens close to capacity just as tenant demand was accelerating. 

The changes to the landscape are evident on Jackson Road, where King Street has completed two buildings and is nearing completion of a third within weeks. 

“What was once a big concept on paper is becoming a reality,” said Tyson Reynoso, managing director at King Street Properties. 

Two buildings totaling 287,000 square feet are complete at 33 and 45 Jackson Road, including a full-building lease for 100,000 square feet to cleanrooms specialist Azzur Group at 45 Jackson Road. The 100,000-square-foot 39 Jackson Road building will be complete by late February, Reynoso said, leaving two additional buildings in the pipeline which will be marketed as single- and multi-tenant availabilities. Asking rents are in the low-$50s per square foot range on a triple-net basis. 

King Street has received interest from contract biomanufacturers, biotech companies planning their own drug manufacturing, and related industries such as precision manufacturing, Reynoso said. 

Venture capital investment in Massachusetts life science companies dropped 36 percent in 2022 to $8.7 billion, according to MassBIO. But King Street Properties executives say the Biden administration’s National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative will encourage U.S. companies to reestablish domestic drugmaking plants. 

Beyond life science, King Street attracted a noteworthy tenant in Commonwealth Fusion Systems, an MIT startup which is engaged in potentially groundbreaking clean energy research. CFS’s 165,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at 111 Hospital Road opened in late 2022 as the first phase of the 47-acre campus. 

After Merger, Seqens Expands Markets 

Officials from MassDevelopment and the Devens Enterprise Commission, which acts as the planning board for the business park, joined Seqens for a grand opening of the new R&D facility last week. 

Seqens Group plans to double its staff to 40 researchers at the 15,000-square-foot Buena Vista Street facility, which replaces a smaller facility on Jackson Road at Devens. 

Steve Adams

Luzeau, the CEO, said the company opted to remain at Devens to maximize employee retention. 

Seqens entered the Massachusetts life science ecosystem in 2017 with the acquisition of a Newburyport contract development and manufacturing operation, PCI. A new majority investor, SK Capital, is giving Seqens momentum to grow in the U.S. drug manufacturing market through a merger with Israeli contract manufacturer Wavelength Pharmaceuticals. 

Combined, the two companies supply more than 700 products to pharmaceutical companies. 

“There was a slowdown within the industry of new innovation for a period of two years,” Luzeau said. “It’s coming back again and I think we have escaped a global recession, and now it’s picking up again with the money flowing back into the biotech industry.”