HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Construction has begun on the long-awaited TMC3, a 37-acre, 6 million-square-foot life sciences campus designed to accelerate the translation of discoveries at the Texas Medical Center into commercial ventures and new advances in medicine and medical technology.
The TMC3 development will sit along Braeswood Boulevard on the southern edge of the 1,300-acre Texas Medical Center, a hub that employs roughly 106,000 people across medical schools and hospitals, including MD Anderson Cancer Center, Methodist Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital.
“With more than 100,000 employees, vast intellectual capital and a long-standing patient focus, our capacity for innovation is second to none,” said William McKeon, President & CEO of Texas Medical Center. “The collective power of TMC’s hospitals and academic institutions has accelerated the pace of scientific discovery for years. TMC3 extends our collaboration to Fortune 100 life sciences companies and entrepreneurial ventures. The impact on patients worldwide has the potential to be nothing short of life-changing.”
City leaders expect TMC3 to elevate Houston as a national life sciences powerhouse—often called the Third Coast—positioning the city alongside established clusters in California and New England.
Plans for TMC3 have been discussed for years; an initial groundbreaking was anticipated in 2019 but delays followed a major redesign and changes in the project team. The original concept included an ambitious, elevated Helix Park designed by James Corner that would have risen 60 feet above grade and been visible from the air; that vision has since been simplified.
The revised plan still emphasizes green space, featuring a sequence of parks that evoke a double-helix—the molecular strands of DNA—woven through the campus.
The current master plan was developed by Boston-based Elkus Manfredi Architects, a firm experienced in shaping life sciences clusters in Massachusetts.
Phase One: 950,000 SF of Life Science Research Space
Phase One of the TMC3 campus includes 950,000 square feet dedicated to translational research. It will be anchored by a 700,000-square-foot facility developed by Beacon Capital Partners of Boston in partnership with Braidwell, a life sciences investment firm. Groundbreaking on the initial 350,000-square-foot portion of the research building is scheduled for the fourth quarter.
The first phase also includes a 500-room hotel with over 65,000 square feet of conference space, a 350-unit residential tower, more than 2,000 parking spaces, and 18.7 acres of publicly accessible space incorporating six TMC3 parks.
Phase One is supported by $1.8 billion in financing from life sciences investment and property development partners.
“It is an unprecedented time for life sciences and innovation in the U.S., and Houston has all the factors that are required for explosive growth in this space,” said Steve Purpura, President of Life Science at Beacon Capital Partners. “TMC has done the work necessary to seed innovation, build relationships with the world’s leading life sciences companies and create the infrastructure needed for long-term success.”
Alongside Beacon, Braidwell will leverage its experience in multi-stage life sciences investments to support company growth on the TMC3 campus. Together with TMC, Beacon and Braidwell intend to assemble a broad ecosystem of capital allocators, fund managers and other essential resource providers to support research institutions and startups located there.
Architect David Manfredi
Lead architect David Manfredi drew on his experience working with Greater Boston’s top universities, hospitals and life sciences organizations to shape the TMC3 plan.
“The result is a Houston campus that reflects the present—and future—needs of the fast-moving life sciences industry,” TMC said. “A key objective of the plan was to ensure an environment where innovators from healthcare, science, academia, government, and industry could collaborate on new medicines, medical devices, diagnostics, digital health platforms, and treatment solutions. The design is intended to attract high-quality talent and support mentorship and career growth within an expansive medical city.”
“Rather than create an isolated district, we are creating a hub,” said Manfredi. “Connections between all these places create opportunities for informal encounters as well as formal collaboration. It’s about enabling interaction among institutions, industry and startups to speed the discovery of new solutions.”
Landscape design by Mikyoung Kim centers on the Helix Gardens, a continuous green corridor open to the public that threads through the campus. Composed of five public parks—each roughly the size of a football field—the Helix Gardens will feature lawns, grassy knolls, extensive tree canopy, curving walking paths, water elements, cafés and a central garden for outdoor events.
The Texas Medical Center has often been criticized for limited green space as it has expanded; the Helix Gardens aim to address that critique while providing gathering places for employees, patients and neighbors.
The TMC3 campus expands on the 60 institutions already located at the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the world.
“Houston is already fortunate to have such a strong healthcare and higher education ecosystem. The TMC3 project stands to be the cornerstone of our regional life sciences strategy. It will create new jobs, advance innovative medical technologies and healthcare solutions,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “In addition, the TMC3 helix parks will create a place for the community to gather and will expand our amazing park system. Houston will be among the most competitive cities in the country for life sciences businesses.”
TMC3: At a Glance
- 250,000-square-foot TMC3 collaborative building
- 700,000-square-foot industry research building
- 521-room hotel with a 65,000-square-foot conference center
- 350-unit residential tower
- Six future industry and institutional research buildings planned
- Mixed-use structures with retail and ample parking
- 7 acres of public space including six TMC3 parks
TMC3: Campus Collaborators
- Beacon Capital Partners
- Braidwell
- Elkus Manfredi Architects
- Majestic Realty
- Mikyoung Kim
- Transwestern Development
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Texas A&M University Health Science Center
- University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
A word of hope: Every 20 minutes a baby is born in the Texas Medical Center.
Aug 31, 2021 Realty News Report. Copyright 2021.
Photo credit: Ralph Bivins, Realty News Report. Copyright 2021.
For more about Texas real estate, see the book Houston 2020: America’s Boom Town – An Extreme Close Up by Ralph Bivins.
File: Massive Life Science Campus Bringing 6 Million SF to Houston Medical Center
File: Massive Life Science Campus.