HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Hines and 2ML Real Estate Interests are preparing to break ground on the first phase of Levit Green, a transformative 53-acre life sciences district located near the Texas Medical Center.
HOK designed the initial structure: a five-story, 270,000-square-foot Phase I building tailored to meet the rigorous demands of modern laboratory and research tenants.
“Houston is quickly emerging as a top life sciences cluster and has achieved that stature without the purpose-built product found in other markets,” said John Mooz, Senior Managing Director at Hines. “The Phase I project at Levit Green has been thoughtfully designed from the inside out to include features required of a top-tier research environment. We are excited to deliver a high-quality building that will enable industry leaders to advance their critical research.”
Levit Green sits near the eastern edge of the 1,345-acre Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the world, where roughly 106,000 people are employed and thousands attend medical school. The site, located near the northwest corner of Highway 288 and Holcombe Boulevard, was previously used by Grocer’s Supply Co. for warehousing and logistics for decades.
Houston’s educational institutions produce more medical doctorates than any other U.S. city and generate more research doctorates in core life science areas—such as biology and the physical sciences—than San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle. Combined with the world’s largest medical center and more than 40 internationally recognized research institutions, Houston has secured its position as one of the nation’s leading emerging life science clusters. However, the market has lacked industry-driven, purpose-built lab space. Levit Green is designed to address that gap by providing a best-in-class research environment with the flexibility to scale or grow in place.
The Levit Green master plan, developed by Gensler, envisions a mixed-use campus with research facilities, office space, residential units, retail and dining, outdoor amenities, and green spaces—planned to reflect the site’s hub location at the intersection of biotech, corporate life sciences and medical research.
Hines engaged a national, integrated design and engineering team to ensure the development meets the exacting operational needs of top life science tenants. Phase I building features will include 100 percent redundant emergency power, enhanced structural vibration attenuation, and augmented mechanical systems to support laboratory operations. Large, efficient floorplates—exceeding 55,000 square feet—and 33-foot structural bay depths will accommodate flexible, high-efficiency lab and office configurations that foster collaboration among research teams.
The overall development is a roughly $1 billion project. Groundbreaking for Phase I was scheduled for the second quarter of 2021, with initial occupancy anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Hines, founded in 1957 and based in Houston, is a privately held global real estate investment firm with a presence in 225 cities across 25 countries.
2ML Real Estate Interests was formerly part of Grocer’s Supply Co., once the largest independently owned grocery wholesaler in the southeastern United States and the leading supplier of Hispanic grocery products nationwide.
Feb. 11, 2021. Realty News Report. Copyright 2021.
File: $1 Billion Life Sciences Project Levit Green
Images: Courtesy Hines. Phase One Building by HOK. Land Plan by Gensler.
File: (2) Texas Medical Center. $1 Billion Life Sciences Project Underway by Hines and 2ML in Houston. HOK. Grocer’s Supply. Gensler. Levit Green. Highway 288.