Dive Brief:

• The Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., the city's public-private economic development corporation and master developer of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, has executed an agreement with Ensemble Real Estate Investments and Mosaic Development Partners, granting them the exclusive rights for a $2.5 billion, 109-acre development at the Navy Yard.

• The first phase includes the $400 million development of two advanced life sciences buildings, with significant residential and hospitality initiatives. When finished, the site in South Philadelphia will encompass more than 1 million square feet of life sciences space, according to a press release.

• Ensemble and Mosaic will construct a roughly 100,000-square-foot speculative laboratory and office development at 1201 Normandy Place, expected to be completed by the end of 2022. At the same time the companies will market to manufacturers another 120,000-square-foot build-to-suit facility at 333 Rouse Boulevard.

Dive Insight:

Under the terms of the agreement, which was first announced in July 2020, PIDC, Ensemble and Mosaic will transform the former military base into a mixed-use community. Residential and hospitality projects will follow the life sciences building. The venture envisions approximately 3,000 residential units when finished, in addition to 3 million square feet of life science manufacturing, research and development, offices, hotels and retail space, creating thousands of jobs, both construction and permanent.

The first life sciences building at 1201 Normandy Place is designed by Philadelphia-based architecture firm Digsau in collaboration with global architect and engineering firm CRB. DIGSAU has designed five buildings in the Navy Yard, and the team is seeking LEED Gold certification for the four-story facility. 

The preliminary concept for 333 Rouse Boulevard is a 120,000-square-foot facility providing office, laboratory and manufacturing space, warehousing and conditioned indoor mechanical space for plant and critical utilities. Digsau also designed the Rouse Boulevard project with IPS-Integrated Projects Services, LLC, a locally founded biologics, cell and gene therapy design firm.

The partners said they were committed to a strategy to increase diversity, equity and inclusion across the project. This will include diverse equity ownership of the project, substantial minority- and women-owned business enterprise participation in construction and operations, a paid internship program with Cheyney University designed to attract young women and minorities to construction and the allocation of a share of net income to a charitable foundation that will create new opportunities for young people in Philadelphia. 

"These and other initiatives will attract female and minority students in high school and college from across the region and the country who are interested in pursuing a career in commercial real estate, construction, architecture and design. It's not just about planning and building for now, it's about doing so for the future, too," said Greg Reaves, co-founder and owner of Mosaic.