A 112,000-square-foot new science and technology office building is planned for Boulder, an area seen as among the country’s top life sciences markets.
The developer, Boulder-based Conscience Bay Co., has received approval from city officials for the Ridgeway Science + Technology project, with groundbreaking anticipated for the second quarter of 2024.
Down the road from Boulder, in Louisville, another high-tech real estate transaction has closed. The CBRE Group said Monday that Colorado-based aerospace company Tendeg has leased a new 100,000-square-foot facility on the Bolder Innovation Campus for its new headquarters and manufacturing facility.
The science and tech project in Boulder will be a state-of-the-art building targeting Colorado’s growing life sciences and technology industries, said Daniel Aizenman, director of development and design at Conscience Bay Co.
A report by the real estate firm JLL ranks Boulder No. 8 among the country’s top life sciences industrial markets. The Denver office of JLL will lead efforts to lease space at Ridgeway.
The building, which is expected to take about two years to complete, will be at 3825 Walnut St. in east Boulder.
“The building is designed for any kind of science to occur in it,” Aizenman said.
Ridgeway will be able to reach biosafety levels 1 through 3, Aizenman said. The different levels signify the types of protection required with level 4 requiring the highest level of containment.
The building will also be designed to allow almost no vibrations to safeguard such sensitive equipment as microscopes and lasers. Aizenman said the companies interested in the space could include those involved with robotics, aerospace and medical device research.
One of the goals is to make the science and tech center a net-zero carbon building by using all electric power to be generated by renewable energy. Solar and geothermal energy will be used.
“And it will be a very tight, energy-efficient envelope,” Aizenman said.
Boulder is a good location for Ridgeway, Aizenman said, because it is an “exceptional environment for the life sciences” for both startups and established companies.
“It also has 17 federally funded labs that have existed for many decades in Boulder and that have been the cradle of innovation for the city,” Aizenman said. “It’s probably been over a decade since a building of this quality has been built in Boulder for the life sciences. A lot of what exists in the city is a lot of old product, reconverted space.”
Partners in the project include commercial real estate developer Prime West; design firm Stantec, the lead architect and sustainability consultant on the project; Swinerton, general contractor; and Trestle Strategy Group.
In Louisville, Tendeg, which provides aerospace engineering services, leased a building on the Bolder Innovation Campus just off Northwest Parkway. The building was completed in 2022.
CBRE’s Erik Abrahamson represented Tendeg in the lease. Jeremy Kroner, also of CBRE, represented United Properties as the landlord. The campus is now fully leased, the real estate firm said.
Tendeg has operated in the area for more than 20 years in two nearby facilities. The new building will allow the company to increase production of its deployable antennas used by aerospace and defense contractors.
“The new Bolder Innovation Campus building is perfectly suited for our needs, and Tendeg is happy for the opportunity to continue to expand and stay within our Louisville home,” Gregg Freebury, Tendeg founder and CEO, said in a statement.
