A conceptual rendering shows the potential future buildout of the 46-acre Reactory biomanufacturing business park at the former Worcester State Hospital property. Image courtesy of the Worcester Business Development Corp.
The first tenant at a landmark Worcester biotech park has secured key city councilors’ support for an $11.5 million tax relief package that will enable the project to move forward.
WuXi Biologics, a contract manufacturing firm, is slated to be the first tenant in the Worceter Business Development Corp.’s eight-pad Reactory biotech park adjacent to the University of Massachusetts Medical School and a large AbbVie research center.
The company asked Worcester officials for a 20-year reduction in their property taxes for their planned $60 million, 107,000-square-foot building. The deal, approved by the Worcester City Council’s Economic Development Committee on March 9, would assess WuXi only 30 percent of the parcel’s increase in value for the project’s critical first five years, later rising to 50 percent at year six and 80 percent at year 11. Overall, the company will see its property taxes reduced by 40 percent over 20 years, for a total of $11.5 million. The company will still pay $21 million in property taxes to the city over that period. The agreement moves next to the full City Council for final approval.
As part of negotiations with the city, WuXi officials pledged to establish a down payment assistance program for any first-time homebuyers among the 150 it plans to employ at its Reactory site. The program would give applicants $5,000 to buy a home in Worcester. Councilors at Monday’s meeting praised the program as a key factor in earning their votes.
Industry, city and state officials – who provided $15 million for site preparation work at The Reactory, located on the grounds of a former state hospital – portray WuXi’s investment as a landmark in Worcester’s efforts to ride the coattails of Greater Boston’s economic boom. Many biotechs in Greater Boston’s core communities must turn to out-of-state companies to manufacture drugs developed in-house, an area where WuXi hopes to compete given its connections to Kendall Square.
“You may not recognize WuXi as a household name but in the biotech world they’re Nike. They’re a big deal,” Jon Weaver, president and CEO of biotech industry incubator Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, told councilors.
Worcester Business Development Corp. President Craig Blais told councilors his organization was in negotiations with two other unnamed tenants, including one that was “very far along” in the process.
The Reactory is part of Worcester’s strategy to provide life science companies with real estate options in all stages of their business cycle, from early stage research to commercialization and manufacturing. City officials are promising fast-track permitting including by-right approval of biomanufacturing with 100-foot building heights at the Reactory, which is permitted for over 530,000 square feet of construction.
