Turning a Defunct Corporate Headquarters in Tarrytown into a Biotech Center

When Union Carbide closed its corporate headquarters in the late 1980's on Old Saw Mill River Road that straddles Greenburgh, Mount Pleasant and Tarrytown, Westchester knew it would face problems redeveloping it. 

"Upstate New York can make an easier argument to get state and federal funding because of the huge job loss," said Laurence Gottlieb, director of Westchester's Office of Economic Development.

Ownership of the former Union Carbide site, which was renamed Landmark at Eastview, turned over several times but the number of tenants spiked when BioMed Realty Trust, a San Diego, CA-based real-estate investment trust company, acquired it in August 2004 for $100 million.  BioMed, which has developed 80 biotech sites nationally, purchased 704,000 square foot of office space and has the rights to develop an additional 484,000 square feet.

BioMed embarked on upgrading the labs and marketing the site to emerging biotech firms.   Landmark attracted tenants because it offered state-of-the-art labs, ample office space, and amenities such as walking paths, a fitness center, cafeteria and tennis and basketball courts.   Currently twelve biotech companies rent space at Landmark including Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Bayer Healthcare, Progenics Pharmaceuticals and Profectus Biosciences. About 1,500 people work at the site.

This thriving biotech center demonstrates that private enterprise can succeed when public funding isn't available.  Landmark also proves that when manufacturing jobs falter, industries that depend on intellectual capital can still prosper in Westchester.

The labs built by Union Carbide made Landmark a natural site for biotech firms.  Furthermore, Westchester offered proximity to major research hospitals, large pharmaceutical firms like Merck and Pfizer, and a talent pool of scientists and researchers from New York City and the suburbs.

Developing a biotech center is a risky proposition. Developers need to build expensive labs, and many start-up pharmaceutical companies can close overnight if their latest research is nixed by the FDA, Gottlieb says.

While many industrial centers develop as a public/private partnership, BioMed Reality made Landmark happen.  It invested $160 million into upgrading the site and only when the expanding firm Regeneron threatened to leave for another state did Westchester offer tax incentives.

Asked what role government played in getting Landmark off the ground, Gottlieb candidly replied, "None."  While California injected massive state incentives to spur the biotech industry, New York "missed the ball even though we had the schools and the engine to create this industry," he said.

Though some companies outside of life sciences rent at Landmark including US Alliance Federal Credit Union and Vista Electrical Contractors, biotech companies predominate and fuel its growth.  Biotech companies held their own even during the recessions, says Matthew McDevitt, an executive vice president at BioMed Realty.  Biotech firms capitalized on growing trends such as an aging population, an explosion of drug research, and could tap venture capital and private equity investment.

Regeneron, which develops cancer drugs and other remedies and rents 550,000 square feet of office space, epitomizes the growing biotech company at Landmark.   Launched by Dr. Leonard Schliefer in 1988, it started with four employees and now numbers over 1,500 staffers including 1,200 employed at Landmark.  To keep costs down, Regeneron manufactures drugs in Rensselaer, New York.

Regeneron moved from its founder's Dr. Leonard Schliefer's apartment on the Upper East Side to the former Union Carbide site in 1989.  At that time Union Carbide still had a presence on campus and the site hadn't been marketed as a biotech center, noted Joanne Deyo, vice president of Facilities at Regeneron. 

Regeneron's success has depended on drugs such as Arcalyst, which treats a rare inflammatory condition, and on generating lucrative partnerships with Bayer and Sanofi-Aventis, the large French-based pharmaceutical company.  However, its VEGF Trap-Eye, in partnership with Bayer, is making progress in testing for macular degeneration and could be a money maker. 

When Regeneron looked to expand and considered moving out of state in 2005, Westchester provided $3 million in tax incentives.  It opted to stay and add 130,000 square feet of office space, which it plans to occupy in February 2011.  "Obtaining tax incentives from Westchester and New York State played a critical role in keeping us here," Deyo stated.

Biotech companies like to cluster together.  McDevitt said, "These companies are at the hub of scientific excellence. They want to be near each other where they can talk science." Deyo noted however that for proprietary reasons, no joint research takes place though companies discuss non-essentials like waste management.

To keep the biotech center primed, Gottlieb says the next step is for Westchester to develop incubator sites where start-up biotech firms can get off the ground.  That process is in the works, he says.  

Nor is BioMed resting on its laurels. It's looking to expand and build another 400,000 to 500,000 square feet of office and lab space on the Mount Pleasant side.  For Westchester, bio research and development means more jobs and higher tax revenues.