One of Fulton Market’s largest life science buildings added another tenant, a sign of growing demand for research labs in the former meatpacking district.
Vanqua Bio, a biopharmaceutical company developing medication for patients with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, signed a lease at the 300,000-square-foot building at 1375 West Fulton Street, according to Trammell Crow Company, the developer of the building. Vanqua will be moving from Lincoln Park to the area in the first half of next year. Other tenants include Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Portal Innovations and Talis Biomedical.
Trammell’s announcement comes amid developers betting on the rapidly growing life science industry in Chicago. Sterling Bay started construction of an eight-story, 320,000-square-foot research lab in Lincoln Yards last month. The state of Illinois gave funding of more than $15 million to five universities and three ventures to build lab spaces in the Chicago area.
“Vanqua is a perfect example of the quality and torrid pace of life sciences innovation emerging from the Chicago region,” said John Flavin, founder of Portal Innovations, a tenant at Fulton Labs.
The firm’s expansion to Fulton Market will help advance the mission of developing therapies that slow or stop the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, said Jim Sullivan, CEO of Vanqua Bio.
Trammell’s 725,000-square-foot Fulton Labs campus consists of the building at 1375 West Fulton and a 425,000-square-foot building nearby at 400 North Aberdeen which is slated to open in the first quarter of next year.
One of the largest life science developments planned in Fulton Market is Mark Goodman & Associates’ 16-story building at 400 North Elizabeth Street. The $150 million project will include 492,000 square feet of office space and is waiting for City Council’s final approval.