Image courtesy of Margulies Perruzzi Architects
A Boston developer is proposing lab space in the Inner Belt as life science growth spills into new sections of East Somerville.
Paradigm Properties is seeking to develop a 4-story, 78,000-square-foot office-lab building on a half-acre surface parking lot at 10 Washington St..
The project is located near the new East Somerville station on the MBTA’s Green Line Extension and on three MBTA bus routes, and is not proposing any on-site parking. Developers have the option of leasing 70 parking spaces from the Arris apartment complex currently under construction at 10 Inner Belt Road, according to application materials submitted to the Somerville planning department.
The project will create 165 permanent jobs and $1.1 million in community benefits such as affordable housing trust and job training linkage payments, according to application materials.
Paradigm hopes to begin site preparation work in the third quarter, followed by an 18-month construction period, according to its development review application.
Somerville has 1.8 million square feet of life science development currently under construction, primarily in Union Square and Assembly Square, according to research by brokerage JLL Boston. Asking rents average nearly $105 per square foot.
Recent growth of large-scale life science projects in Union Square and Boynton Yards is prompting interest in redevelopment of the industrial properties in the nearby Inner Belt and Brickbottom neighborhoods.
Developer North River Leerink is constructing a 208,600-square-foot lab building at 100 Chestnut St. in Brickbottom on speculation after receiving $192.5 million in construction financing in June.
The city of Somerville is in the midst of a planning study as it prepares to rezone the 150-acre area to encourage redevelopment of the industrial buildings and parking lots as housing and commercial space.
