January 21, 2021

DPR breaks ground on Alexandria's eleven50 life sciences tower

Renderings by Alexandria Real Estate Equities/Gensler [enlarge]

Alexandria’s second building on Eastlake will also be prominent from I-5.

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Alexandria Real Estate Equities has two life sciences buildings planned on opposite sides of Eastlake Avenue East. At 1165 Eastlake, the west project, BNBuilders has topped out on a four-story building that's fully leased to Adaptive Biotechnologies. Occupancy is expected later this year. CollinsWoerman designed what Alexandria calls eleven65.

The taller east project, eleven50, has all its permits and recently broke ground. Alexandria's new project website for the building says it's targeting 2023 for completion. DPR Construction is building the project, which was designed by Gensler.

All the old buildings were previously removed for construction staging for eleven65; now the early shoring and drilling work is underway for the east building. The 12-story building at 1150 Eastlake will have about 260,000 square feet, excluding the parking.

Work apparently began in October. DPR's project website says the excavation of 90,000 cubic yards of earth should be done by September. The luffing crane should go up in August. June 2023 is the goal for completion.

The eleven50 team also includes KPFF, civil engineer; PSF Mechanical, plumbing and mechanical; Prime Electric and Coffman, electrical; Westlake Consulting Group, owner's rep; Magnusson Klemencic Associates, structural engineer; Brumbaugh & Assoc., landscape architect; Glumac, energy consultant; Sparklab Lighting Design; Malcolm Drilling; Ground Support, shoring; Bush, Roed & Hitchings, surveyor; Brightworks of Portland, sustainability consultant; and Curtain Wall Design & Consulting, of Dallas.

The sloping corner site, at East Nelson Place, will require a deep pit. Even so, eleven50 will rise dramatically above the level of Interstate 5, creating a new landmark for drivers next to the iconic but decorative smokestacks for the historic former steam plant — also owned by Alexandria.

The gross project size for eleven50 is about 428,000 square feet, and the Mandatory Housing Affordability fee is calculated at almost $2.8 million. The project cost, and possible signed tenants, could be disclosed in Alexandria's next SEC filings and earnings call on Feb. 2.

CBRE recently estimated our local life sciences vacancy rate at 2.2%, the second tightest market in the nation. The two Eastlake projects are part of Alexandria's push to add about 1.6 million square feet in that category, including the future development of the Mercer Mega Block.

Separately, at Alexandria's landmarked steam plant, which is leased to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, DPR is also now constructing a 122-stall replacement for the old north parking garage, mostly below grade. It'll connect to the existing 147 structured stalls within the old steam plant.

The garage team includes CollinsWoerman, architect; KPFF, civil engineer; Weisman Design Group, landscape architect; Hart Crowser, geotechnical; CPL, structural; and Studio TJP, landmarks consultant.