National Development, in partnership with Alexandria Real Estate Equities, developed a 255,000 SF Life Sciences building on the site of the former Mount Auburn Club in Watertown, MA. The project sits on a 6-plus acre site, with nature and walking trails and a multi-use bike and pedestrian path connecting the site to the Charles River Conservation and Recreation network. The project includes significant improvements along Coolidge Avenue incorporating wider sidewalks allowing for both pedestrians and bikes to travel off-street. An extensive solar array system provides a significant amount of the building’s energy needs and contributes to its LEED Gold status certification.

VIVO has added three (3) new speculative lab suites on the second floor to complement a 13k USF spec suite completed in mid-2024. Designed for 50/50 lab to office ratio, Suite A is 5,200 USF, Suite B is 9,595 USF and Suite C is 7,290 USF. The goal is to create smaller spec suites more consistent with current market trends.

Value engineering of the interior finishes package required careful detailing to maintain design features intended to set the spec suites apart from the competition while meeting budget expectations. VIVO’s experience with life science uses and previous speculative suites in the building provided for efficient coordination of MEP trades and the construction team. This allowed early procurement of