Boston lab, investors pitch life sciences accelerator for I-195 land

CAMBRIDGE BIOLABS HAS teamed up with Ocean State Angels to propose a life sciences accelerator to be built on the former highway land known as The Link. The group, led by Ocean State Angels co-founder Timothy Ehrlich and Cambridge Biolabs President Dr. Johannes Fruehauf, pitched the idea to the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission behind closed doors on Monday.
CAMBRIDGE BIOLABS HAS teamed up with Ocean State Angels to propose a life sciences accelerator to be built on the former highway land known as The Link. The group, led by Ocean State Angels co-founder Timothy Ehrlich and Cambridge Biolabs President Dr. Johannes Fruehauf, pitched the idea to the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission behind closed doors on Monday.

(Updated, June 17, 10:16 a.m.)

PROVIDENCE – A Boston-area laboratory-space firm has partnered with local medical investors to propose a life sciences accelerator on the former I-195 land known as The Link.

The team of Cambridge Biolabs and Ocean State Angels was one of two groups to pitch the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission with building proposals for pieces of the former highway land at the Monday night meeting.

The second group to present to commissioners was made up of Phoenix Property Co. and Lincoln Property Co.

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Both presentations to the commission took place behind closed doors, and Lincoln Property Senior Vice President John M. Cappellano would only say afterward that his proposal was for Parcel 28.

The I-195 Commission, upon returning to open meeting, said no votes were taken in executive session.

Ocean State Angels and Cambridge Biolabs envision a medical lab facility and accompanying offices with space for 15 to 20 health care startups, plus support services, on Parcel 27 at the corner of Richmond Street and Clifford Street.

Parcel 27 has space for a 20,000-square-foot floor plate and is described in The Link’s “Developer’s Toolkit” as suited to a medium-size, research-related office.

The facility would be run by Cambridge Biolabs of Cambridge, Mass., and owned by investors, which would be expected to include, but but not be exclusively connected to Ocean State Angels.

Ocean State Angels co-founder Timothy Ehrlich told reporters after the group’s presentation that building a life sciences accelerator and lab space in Providence has been a long-term goal that prompted him to reach out to Cambridge Biolabs.

The building will be “a shared lab environment that will be a resource for all life sciences companies in Rhode Island,” Ehrlich said, where “early-stage, nascent companies will have wet lab space, co-working space.”

Ehrlich said the group was still working on details of the proposal including how large the building would be. At this point, he said, it would be “more than one story” and not include any retail.

Cambridge Biolabs currently runs two lab spaces in Cambridge, Mass., and is in the process of expanding to as many as a dozen facilities across the country, said President Dr. Johannes Fruehauf. He said the current Cambridge facilities have been out of space for the last five years.

“There is strong interest in many cities in these facilities – you are talking about infrastructure that enables life-science entrepreneurs to create new companies,” Fruehauf said. “Having a place built here will create two things: it will enable entrepreneurs out of Providence-based universities or hospital systems to stay here who otherwise would have gone elsewhere, and then once you have a place built like this you will be able to attract entrepreneurs from the larger areas.”

Fruehof said he believed the group had financing for the project lined up, and that the accelerator would be similar to Betaspring or Techstars but with the lab space a greater draw than mentorship for startups.

The group has brought on Scott Simpson, principal of construction firm Jacobs, to design and build the new facility.

Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee, who was not scheduled to participate in the meeting, arrived at the beginning of Ocean State Angels’ presentation and left after it concluded. Asked why he was there, Chafee said, “just checking it out.”

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