Metabolix Relocates HQ from Cambridge to Woburn

WOBURN, MA—Metabolix(NASDAQ: MBLX), a biomaterials company which focuses on the plastics industry, will be moving its corporate headquarters from Cambridge to Woburn.

The company announced Tuesday that it has signed a 10.5 year lease for a $30,000-square foot facility at 19 Presidential Way in Woburn. The company plans to move into its new digs in June.

“Access to the vibrant biotechnology community of Greater Boston was an important factor in evaluating re-location options. With the new space in Woburn, we will be able to upgrade and expand our biopolymer applications development lab to support customer projects as we continue to ramp up our PHA biopolymer market development activities and work to transition from pilot scale to commercial scale operations,” said Joseph Shaulson, president and CEO of Metabolix in Tuesday’s release. “The move also allows us to reduce our overall footprint as we consolidate ourMassachusetts operations into 19 Presidential Way and significantly reduce facilities-related leasing and operating costs starting in 2017.”

According to the release, the new facility will come complete with state-of-the art laboratory facilities:

Metabolix’s relocation to 19 Presidential Way will provide state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and office space, as well as shared conference facilities. Metabolix plans to exit office space it currently occupies in Lowell, Massachusetts in May 2017 and to consolidate its biopolymers sales, marketing and administrative offices and biopolymers research and development laboratories in the new Woburn facility. The new laboratory facilities will include a microbial fermentation lab and an expanded biopolymers applications development lab. Pending the spinout of its Yield10 crop science program, Metabolix will also relocate its Massachusetts based crop science laboratory and personnel to the new facility in Woburn.

Dom Domoretsky, the Executive Vice President of JLL’s Life Science Practice who represented Metabolix in the transaction, said that this is a win-win scenario for the company.

“Metabolix’s relocation to the growing north suburban bio-hub of Woburn is a win-win scenario. Metabolix remains firmly rooted within the world’s leading life science cluster while benefiting from a reduction in operating spend and an upgrade in operations,” Domoretsky said.