AbsSci LLC, a rapidly-growing regional biotechnology company best known for its proprietary protein manufacturing platform, has signed a lease to occupy 6,200 square feet of the former Red Lion Hotel building at the Quay, on the Port of Vancouver’s Terminal One property.
The port announced the lease agreement on Monday as part of a collaborative effort involving the Columbia River Economic Development Council (CREDC) and Governor Inslee’s Strategic Reserve Fund.
Prior to AbSci moving in, the port plans to renovate a portion of the former hotel into the first dedicated life sciences technology lab space in Southwest Washington. According to the port, the new space – named the Columbia River Life Sciences Technology Building – will give AbSci the flexibility to expand while greatly increasing the region’s ability to attract additional companies in the biotech sector.
“With the company’s growth, we needed to find a home that would allow us to continue to expand,” said AbSci CEO Sean McClain. “We are excited to be the first tenant of this new facility, and we believe there will be a great deal of demand for this space from companies similar to ourselves.”
AbSci, founded in Portland in 2011, recently hired its tenth employee and projects to expand to 50 employees by 2020. The company’s technology reduces the production costs of therapeutic proteins and antibodies, which are used in a wide range of medical treatment plans.
“We are very excited to have AbSci as a new tenant on our Terminal One property,” said Port of Vancouver CEO Todd Coleman in press release. “We are grateful for the help of CREDC, Governor [Jay] Inslee and Senator [Annette] Cleveland in bringing a new industry and economic development to Southwest Washington.”
The grant from Governor Inslee’s office will be used to help renovate the old hotel space into wet labs and office space. Senator Cleveland helped to secure the $200,000 grant.
“The creation of this lab space to house an exciting biotech company with huge growth potential is a great first step in strengthening the competitiveness of the sector in Southwest Washington,” said Governor Inslee.
“This kind of bold step forward is good news for our state, for our community and for this region,” added Senator Cleveland. “I’m also excited to see a building that has been such a notable part of Vancouver’s past being repurposed to play a key role in our future. Vancouver offers a world-class level of higher education, health care and quality of life. Being home to this cutting-edge company focused on innovation and solutions for the future is a perfect next step for our community. This is a pivotal moment for our community and an exciting step forward.”
The future of the Quay
While building renovations are scheduled to begin next month and should be complete by mid-February, the new lab space at the hotel will only be temporary.
Magan Reed, the port’s communications coordinator, explained that AbSci will eventually move out of the renovated space and into a newly-built facility that fits with the port’s master plan for Terminal One’s redevelopment.
“The plan is to make them (AbSci) a long-term tenant in a new waterfront office building on port property,” she said. “Once those [new Terminal One] buildings go up and we can get them moved into their permanent home, that will be the time to demolish the [former Red Lion at the Quay] building completely, to make room for whatever the master plan allows us to do with that area.”
