Photo courtesy of Gutierrez Cos.

After failing to secure an office tenant for its Burlington Woods Drive spec development, Gutierrez Cos. decided to test the 110,000-square-foot building’s desirability among life science companies.

The Burlington developer formed a joint venture with GEM Realty Capital of Chicago in 2019 to add lab-ready building systems and rebranded the property as Burlington BioCenter. The shift of strategy paid off as pair of Cambridge life science companies, Ultivue and ProtaGene, and CANbridge, a Chinese biopharmaceutical firm with offices in Kendall Square, recently signed leases for 56,000, 26,000 and 27,000 square feet respectively.

The project was completed amid record-breaking demand from life science companies, with 58 percent of the 14 million square feet of lab space in Greater Boston scheduled for completion by 2023 already committed, according to JLL research.

JLL represented ownership in the leases. Avison Young Principal Kevin Malloy represented Ultivue in the lease negotiations, and Avison Young’s project management group will oversee the tenant buildout. Tenants are scheduled for move-ins this summer.