Why I-40 commuters won’t be seeing this familiar sign much longer
The acronym “IQVIA” in bold, blue font has become a familiar sight as you cross the Wake County line into Durham, marking the headquarters of one of the Triangle’s largest life science companies.
But the prominent office tower sign, just off Interstate 40 at 4820 Emperor Blvd., is soon to be no more.
That’s because IQVIA — formerly known as Quintiles — is looking for a sub-tenant to take over four floors of its 260,000-square-foot tower space. As part of a long-planned expansion, it’s consolidating its workforce and shifting headquarters to a new Innovation Park campus at 2400 Ellis Road in Durham.
The company’s relocation is scheduled for mid-2023, IQVIA spokesperson Trent Brown told The News & Observer. “It includes no planned change to the employment of our RTP workforce,” he said.
IQVIA wouldn’t give an exact local headcount, but said it has nearly 4,000 employees statewide, “many of whom will use Innovation Park as their office.”
IQVIA, which has about 86,000 employees globally, opened the 360,000-square-foot campus about two years ago. It has a 160,000-square-foot lab for its subsidiary Q2 Solutions, a joint venture between IQVIA and Quest Diagnostics. The company runs clinical trials for biotechnology companies, specifically focusing on genomic testing, a rapidly growing part of the field.
In 2019, it landed a state incentive package potentially worth nearly $10 million to help fund its two-part expansion. Through the collaboration, IQVIA said this new facility will create “up to 750 new jobs” in North Carolina over the next 10 years.
The move is “one more step towards furthering the company’s goal,” IQVIA said. “IQVIA remains just as committed to expanding and creating improved workspaces where employees across functions can collaborate in North Carolina and the Research Triangle region.”
However, finding a sub-tenant to take over its lease could prove challenging.
There’s currently a lack of demand for office space, with roughly 3.5 million square feet of vacant sublet space currently on the market, according to CBRE Raleigh Research.
This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Why I-40 commuters won’t be seeing this familiar sign much longer."
