Trammell Crow Scores Fulton Labs Expansion with Belay

A tenant at one of Trammell Crow Company’s life science facilities in Fulton Market expanded its lease, enhancing Chicago’s evolving biomedical research and innovation scene.

Belay Diagnostics, which uses a proprietary molecular testing platform to detect brain and spinal cord cancers, upped its footprint to more than 10,000 square feet, more than doubling its previous lease in the same Fulton Labs building at 1375 West Fulton Street, according to a news release. CBRE’s Dan Lyne and Kelsey Scheive negotiated the lease on behalf of Trammell Crow.

The deal comes a few months after Belay signed a 4,000 square-foot-lease in the 300,000-square-foot building.

“This expansion is a testament to life science ecosystem that we are working to create across not only our Fulton Labs campus, but our entire life science portfolio in Chicago,” said Trammell Crow’s Morgan Baer-Blaska. “The science-ready lab suites at 1375 were designed to be key contributors in the growth of their users, allowing companies to focus exclusively on their work, which ultimately results in a need for more space to accommodate the scale of each business.”

Belay’s augmented footprint adds another tally to the win column for Tramell Crow. The Dallas-based firm recently scored a 34,000-square-foot lease from the Illinois Institute of Technology at 400 North Aberdeen Street, which is part of Trammell Crow’s 725,000-square-foot Fulton Labs campus.

The North Aberdeen building, set to open next fall, has also received a 28,000-square-foot commitment from the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, led by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan.

At 1375 West Fulton, drug maker Xeris Biopharma Holdings has signed a 13-year, 87,000-square-foot lease, making it the anchor tenant in the 14-story building.

Furthermore, Trammell Crow and Beacon Capital Partners are building Hyde Park Labs — a 300,000-square-foot facility near the intersection of 52nd Street and Harper Avenue — and another life science facility in north suburban Evanston.