The Registry | October 5, 2020
Just months after opening its third office space, MBC BioLabs, a Bay Area biotech incubator, has submitted plans for another lab and office project in the City of San Carlos. According to project documents on file with the City, the firm’s project at 1030 Brittan Ave. is expected to total 108,143 square feet and will be MBC BioLab’s fourth location in the San Francisco Bay Area
The project is currently under review by local officials, who are in the process of scheduling public hearings for the project. According to project documents, the seven-story building will include 268 parking spaces on levels one through three, with its offices situated on the upper level. MBC BioLabs has hired Alameda, Calif.-based architecture firm MBH Architects to design the project.
MBC BioLabs has been growing quickly over the past several years. In May, MBC BioLabs opened a 30,000 square foot building at 930 Brittan Ave., just next door to its latest project Built specifically as a life-science incubator space over the past 18 months, the building features cutting-edge lab equipment, infrastructure and services to entrepreneurs of the industry.
“We’ve been working very hard to bring this facility online and have seen interest in applicants for lab space spike to all-time highs in just the past month,” said MBC BioLab’s General Manager Douglas Crawford in a statement commenting on the progress of 930 Brittan. “COVID-19 research is driving some of this, but interest reaches far beyond that.”
MBC BioLab’s spaces are designed for start-up life sciences firms operating on thin budgets. Each BioLab comes complete with a molecular biology core facility that include plate readers, microscopy, flow cytometry, protein interaction, cell analysis and sorting, and FPLC, among other features.
“At MBC BioLabs, we take care of the routine lab supplies, EH&S, maintenance, upkeep and logistics, so entrepreneurs can obsess over the science and nothing else,” Crawford said. “In our incubator labs, entrepreneurs become part of a community of science-minded founders learning, experimenting and growing together. It’s very powerful.”
930 Brittan was officially completed in August and marked MBC BioLab’s second location in San Carlos; 1030 Brittan will be the incubator’s third in the city and fourth overall. Across its completed locations, MBC BioLabs has about 80,000 square feet of lab incubator space which accommodate about 125 companies engaged in the life science industry. Companies and start-ups can lease as much space as they need, even a single lab bench. Since its inception in 2013, the companies in MBC BioLab’s spaces have brought 53 programs to the clinic, produced 13 approved diagnostics and raised more than $4.5 billion in funding. MBC BioLab has helped to launch more than 170 companies from its incubator spaces. MBC BioLabs stated in May it was experiencing high demand for its incubator space.
Across San Carlos, life sciences companies and developers alike have been working to bring more lab and office space to market. Black Mountain Properties has proposed to redevelop 888 Bransten into a 210,000 square foot Class A life sciences development. The project will rise next to a 530,000 square foot project previously known as Meridian 25, which is owned by Alexandria Real Estate. Alexandria is working to develop around 25 acres across the City of San Carlos alone. Other major companies in the area include Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Gilead, Illumina and the Sutter Health Palo Alto Medical Foundation Hospital.
As of this writing, MBC BioLabs had not yet returned The Registry’s request for updated comment
Published: The Registry