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A contaminated industrial site near Wellington Circle would be redeveloped as a lab complex under a proposal by an Acton developer.

Empire Management Corp. seeks to redevelop a vacant warehouse and construction staging yard at 48-64 Commercial St. in Medford into a 97,857-square-foot research and technology building known as Fellsway Innovation Center.

The proposal represents the second ground-up life science project planned in the Wellington Circle area.

Boston-based developer RISE received approval in 2022 to replace the Bertucci’s restaurant at 4054 Mystic Valley Parkway with a 311,535-square-foot office-lab tower, but has not broken ground on the project.

The inner suburban/urban edge submarket had the most leasing activity in Greater Boston during the fourth quarter, according to research by brokerage Newmark, with 185,000 square feet of positive absorption.

But the 25 percent vacancy rate could rise further as 4.4 million square feet of lab projects near completion such as BioMed Realty’s Assembly Innovation Park and Greystar’s 74M tower, both in Somerville.

The Empire Management site includes two lots totaling 4.5 acres. 64 Commercial St. has an activity and use limitation related to environmental contamination, according to application materials submitted to the Medford Community Development Board.

Empire Management bought the 48 Commercial St. parcel in 2006 for $1.7 million and the 64 Commercial St. parcel in 2012 for $2 million, according to data compiled by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

The project requires a height variance from the Medford Zoning Board of Appeals, according to a letter submitted by attorney Adam Dash of Somerville. The industrial zoning district has a 30-foot maximum building height, requiring a variance to construct the 46-foot-tall proposed building.