Devens is home to 100 businesses, nonprofits and government organizations with a combined workforce of more than 6,000. Photo courtesy of MassDevelopment
A Westborough company that landed a $1 billion contract in June to supply the electric vehicle market is eyeing the Devens business park for expansion.
Ascend Elements is in negotiations with Boston-based King Street Properties to lease the entire 39 Jackson Road building at the 4,400-acre business park in central Massachusetts.
The 101,000-square-foot R&D facility is under construction at King Street Properties’ 750,000-square-foot Pathways campus, which will include five buildings upon completion.
In October, Ascend received $200 million in series C venture capital funding led by Fifth Wall Climate. The company also has received $480 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy.
In June, Ascend Elements signed a multi-year contract with an undisclosed client to supply $1 billion of materials for battery manufacturing starting in late 2024.
The Devens Enterprise Commission, which acts as a planning board for the business park located at the former Army base in Ayer, Harvard and Shirley, approved the potential manufacturing and research and development use at 39 Jackson Road, which is located within Devens’ innovation technology business district.
King Street Properties is in negotiations with Ascend Elements to lease the entire 39 Jackson Road facility, according to a letter to the commission from King Street Properties Partner Tyson Reynoso.
King Street Properties previously leased two buildings at Pathways to Electric Hydrogen Co. and Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand, which provides biomanufacturing suites.
The developer also is seeking a craft brewer to operate a taproom in an amenity building on the campus, and has applied for building permits to begin construction of the two remaining commercial buildings, Devens Land Use Administrator Neil Angus said.
“The amenity building is currently under construction and they just applied for building permits for 57 and 75 Jackson Road, so things are busy on that campus,” Angus said.
King Street Properties declined to comment.
Joseph Curtatone, president of the Northeast Clean Energy Council, said the battery recycling market is an important part of the growing climate economy.
“Regional success in the climate economy is going to hinge on the brilliant next- wave companies that are founded in the Northeast being able to expand their operations in the Northeast,” Curtatone said in a statement.
