Photo courtesy of Arranta Bio

A former warehouse on Pleasant Street in Watertown will provide 80,000 square feet of development and manufacturing space for life science companies following a conversion project.

Watertown-based Arranta Bio was founded in 2019 and received $82 million in funding from sources including Wellesley-based Ampersand Capital Partners.

Arranta Bio selected DPS Group and its design affiliate TRIA to provide design services for the renovation and fit-out of 650 Pleasant St. for the cGMP development and manufacturing facility, which will include 13 cGMP suites.

The just-completed first phase includes eight process suites and support space, along with a warehouse and shipping area with cold storage, DPS Group said.

Future phases include a 9,000-square-foot R&D suite and 6,000-square-foot quality control suite, along with conference and huddle rooms and a second-floor gathering space and kitchen.

The Massachusetts’ life science industry’s search for biomanufacturing space to test and produce new drug therapies is prompting developers to seek out sites throughout suburban Boston and central Massachusetts. Brokerage Colliers International is tracking approximately more than 2 million square feet of local cGMP requirements.

Arranta partners with companies developing therapeutics targeting the human microbiome for treatments of infectious diseases and cancer. Arranta founder Mark Bamford founded and sold both Gallus Biopharmaceuticals and Brammer Bio to Thermo Fisher Scientific, which is a partner with Arranta.

Other members of the project team include construction manager DC Beane and Associates, VHB and Goldstein/Milano.