Wexford Science & Technology Announces 283,000 Square Foot Expansion Of Wake Forest Innovation Quarter

Wexford Science & Technology, a BioMed Realty Trust

company, announced it will be developing an additional 283,000 square feet of laboratory and office space in Wake Forest Innovation Quarter in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, an affiliate of Wake Forest University, has committed to a long-term lease for approximately 60% of the project for a new medical education building for Wake Forest School of Medicine. Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is ranked among the nation's best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report and one of "100 Great Hospitals in America" by Becker's Hospital Review. Founded in 1902, its school of medicine consistently ranks among the top medical schools in research and primary care. Wake Forest School of Medicine has more than 1,100 full-time faculty members developing physicians who set the standard for compassionate, collaborative care, lead the way in socially responsible health care and biomedical sciences locally, nationally, and globally, and who learn, discover, and apply innovative state-of-the-art knowledge and skills to the art of medicine. "Wake Forest School of Medicine's relocation to the Innovation Quarter is a transformational milestone that adds to the growing synergy among the city's academic institutions and supports technical collaboration, entrepreneurial opportunities and community involvement," said James R. Berens, President of Wexford Science & Technology. "Today's announcement with Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center continues the momentum of Wexford's university platform in Winston-Salem, as we continue to see strong demand for new laboratory and office space at the Innovation Quarter led by our partners at Wake Forest." The 283,000 square foot development project will grow Wake Forest Innovation Quarter to nearly 1.2 million square feet since the project began in 2008. Wake Forest Innovation Quarter is a cooperative undertaking between Wexford and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center to redevelop the former R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company plants in downtown Winston-Salem into a transformational knowledge community, bringing together university researchers and the private sector in a collaborative live, work, learn and play environment. The Innovation Quarter already includes 715,000 square feet of state-of-the-art research and laboratory space at Wake Forest Biotech Place, which has received LEED® Gold certification, and at the recently completed Inmar headquarters building at 635 Vine Street and the 525@vine property, both of which are LEED Platinum certified. The new development in Wake Forest Innovation Quarter began when BioMed Realty and Wexford acquired ownership in the 60 series buildings from the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, which received them through a donation by R.J. Reynolds. The initial investment was $3.4 million, and total project costs are expected to be approximately $97 million before the cost benefits from the Historic, New Markets and State Mill tax credits available for this transformation of the former tobacco facility into a modern laboratory and office complex.