Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center To Add Office Space In South Lake Union

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center will expand its South Lake Union footprint when it moves into 106K SF of office space at Seattle Light Lake Union Steam Plant in the fall of 2019. It signed a 10-year full-building lease agreement with Alexandria Real Estate Equities last week.

The building was renovated by its current tenant, ZymoGenetics, to include lab space and facilities customized for the life science industry. ZymoGenetics, owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb, has opted not to renew its lease on the building when it expires in 2019.

The building received historic preservation status in 1994 and has since been seismically retrofitted and renovated to include 82 modules of lab space, along with additional space for shared resources and support programs.

“We are very pleased to expand our long-term partnership with Fred Hutch and to support its continued growth in our Lake Union innovation cluster,” Alexandria Real Estate Equities Senior Vice President and Regional Market Director of Seattle John Cox said.

Expansion in the area makes sense, Fred Hutch spokesman Mark Peterson said. The South Lake Union area has emerged as one of Seattle’s life science hubs.

“South Lake Union has been home to Fred Hutch’s campus for nearly three decades and we plan to be in this neighborhood a long time,” Peterson said. “Fred Hutch was among the very first bioscience-focused organizations to call South Lake Union home nearly three decades ago.”

The organization now occupies more than 1.4M SF in the area.

In addition, Fred Hutch’s presence has attracted similar companies to the area, including Biotechnologies, Nohla Therapeutics and Juno Therapeutics.

“It’s just a great area for scientists, researchers and staff to work,” he said. He cited the neighborhood’s proximity to downtown, the University of Washington and the major transportation corridors.

“ZymoGenetics renovated the facility to include significant lab assets and we plan to put these world-class facilities to good use,” Peterson said.

Fred Hutch has a goal of developing curative approaches to most, if not all, forms of cancer by 2025.

“With world-class lab space already on-site, the Steam Plant saves us time that a full build-out would otherwise require, while providing another base for the critical work of our growing team of researchers, faculty and staff,” Fred Hutch President and Director Dr. Gary Gilliland said.

The cancer center plans to raise funds to support this expansion.

“We are striving to both efficiently and effectively address the transformative advancements of cancer research and treatment that are underway,” Gilliland said. “Private funding and industry partnerships are essential to bringing lifesaving discoveries from labs to patients over the next decade.” 

Alexandria Real Estate Equities focuses on life science clusters. In addition to Seattle, it has offices in San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, New York City, Maryland and North Carolina.

Savills Studley's Eric Blohm represented Fred Hutch in the Steam Plant lease negotiation.