Massive life science hubs being built in Morrisville — on both sides of the street
From high above, the full scale of the Spark Life Science complex comes into view. The construction site is both massive and incomplete, with sections of red dirt and concrete structures filling the formerly wooded land near the airport and I-40.
Announced in January 2022, Spark Life Science (or Spark LS) promises to deliver 1.5 million square feet of life science lab and biomanufacturing space near the center of the Triangle. The North Carolina developer Trinity Capital and Miami Beach-based Starwood Capital pledged a combined $1 billion for the 109-acre Morrisville site, which will also include restaurants, retail and multifamily residential units.
Construction began in early Fall, and Trinity hopes to have its first phase of buildings ready for tenant uplift — or customization — by the end of the year.
Morrisville leaders say Spark’s size befits their town’s soaring population, which has sprung from 5,200 in 2000 to more than 32,000 today.
“The economic development opportunity Spark offers for Morrisville and the region is amazing,” said Morrisville council member Vicki Scroggins-Johnson. “It offers our community a way of connecting life sciences and RTP and the talent that we have in the region.”
But Spark LS won’t be the only billion-dollar life science hub on its block.
Directly facing the construction on the other side of McCrimmon Parkway is the future site of Pathway Triangle, a one-million-square-foot lab and biomedical facility that broke ground in September. The Massachusetts-based developer King Street Properties says the core and shell of the site’s initial buildings will be complete by the end of the year.
King Street and Trinity Capital are developing their projects without any tenant commitments.
“We and others here in the marketplace have such a strong belief in the marketplace and the future demand that we’re building them in advance of that,” said Tim Skender, a Raleigh-based vice president at King Street Properties.
Morrisville preps for more growth
The greater Triangle area is already home to a flourishing life science sector — with more than 500 industry companies according to the North Carolina Biotechnology Center — and Morrisville, which already has a large Fujifilm facility, aspires to be central to continued life science growth.
In August 2019, the town extended McCrimmon Parkway to give roadway access to the then-undeveloped land. And in July 2021, Morrisville updated its zoning regulations to accommodate the mixed-use projects.
“We pulled the trigger there, and then it just went gangbusters,” said Morrisville Mayor TJ Cawley. “It’s been a struggle for developers to find anything left in Wake County, especially western Wake County, close to the airport.”
Cawley envisions the combined life science hubs will be the Morrisville version of Research Triangle Park’s Boxyard, which provides retail space among a wider office park.
“There will be a lot of mini destinations over there on McCrimmon, on either side of the road,” he said.
Morrisville Mayor Pro Tem Liz Johnson hinted her town’s ambitions in life sciences expand beyond the one street.
“It’s more than just the two (projects) we’re talking about here,” she said. “There is interest by some other large biomanufacturing and life science companies. We are known nationally for that here. Unless you’re following that specific industry, it’s probably something folks are not quite aware of.”
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
This story was originally published April 14, 2023 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Massive life science hubs being built in Morrisville — on both sides of the street."
