CRB Announces Collaboration with NexPoint for 200-Acre Life Sciences Development

Alternative investment firm NexPoint has announced plans for a 200-acre life sciences development TxS District. The proposed development in Plano Texas signifies technology and science for collaborative innovation in the life science sector. The collaboration with CRB is set to be achieved through a public-private partnership, and the project will take place on a 91-acre campus; formerly operating as the headquarters for Electronic Data Systems (EDS). Lab Design spoke to Benjamin Orozco, a project manager at CRB about the set collaboration.

Q: Could you tell me a bit about yourself?

A: I'm Benjamin Orozco. I'm a project manager for CRB. I've been in the life science industry for about 20 years of experience. I started as a process engineer, and I've worked my way through the ranks. I now manage some of our critical projects; specifically on the design side [and] some of our construction as well. CRB is focused on life sciences and so it's a pretty good fit for me.

Q: How did the idea of TxS come about? 

A: In 2021, CRB was approached by NexPoint, simply asking the question, ‘can we enter into the life science market with this massive asset that we have?’ So we initially proposed to do a feasibility study of the site. [In order] to investigate the pros and cons to have adaptive reuse, to take this world headquarters-type facility and turn it into a life science facility; focusing on the existing assets that were in place.

Credit: CRB

What we found was that the site checked a lot of the boxes we look for in these types of candidates, or for this type of work. Over the past few years, we've seen more and more developers and investors across the country come to us since we have a lot of life science experience, lab experience, [and] R&D experience, looking to convert commercial buildings into lab office use buildings.

In a lot of cases, the facility infrastructure needs so much improvement that their pro forma doesn't work. And this being really [a] robust facility, it's one of the maybe few cases, where the infrastructure jump from office to lab space actually did check out.

So it might take some creativity and then some investment to make that happen, but we felt from the original feasibility study that further investigation and concept design would make sense for the project.

So with NexPoints’ approval, we began to develop a conceptual master plan for the main 92-acre site. We dove into the concepts and the costs that it would take to develop a sustainable ecosystem; from incubation to graduation through small-scale and large-scale production. Then over the course of the last couple of years, the project has gone from that original 92 acres, because there's been so much excitement around what we've come up with, that they've expanded it into another 200 acres. So that's kind of the timeline of how that's worked, and we're currently in detailed design on the first phase of the project.

Q: What were some of the boxes that you looked for? Could you tell me more about the specific checklist items?

A: We certainly look at utility infrastructure: power, water, waste; those kinds of things, we'll look at the building infrastructure. So if it has HVAC systems, exhaust fans, those kinds of things, we reuse that stuff.

Buildings that are older sometimes even have different codes, so their equipment isn't always up to [date]. So in a lot of cases, this building was ‘overbuilt,’ which is actually helpful for what we try to do. Labs take a lot of air, you need clean space, you need regulated or GMP space, and so looking at the infrastructure [is] one of the first pieces.

Another critical component is looking at the actual physical structure and understanding if it already is, or if we can modify it to make it that it can meet the vibration criteria of a typical lab. So a lot of commercial buildings are built in a sense where you may not necessarily feel the vibration in a room, but it's there, and it's not going to work if you're using specialized equipment.

Floor-to-floor height is another really important piece, depending on the market that we're looking at, different floor-to-floor heights are acceptable, but we really like to see at least nine feet, six inches clear. And so, if we can get that along with all the other stuff that has to go [on] that floor that's an important piece.

We have to think through how we could do that. Sometimes we have to be a little creative, but ultimately a lot of times you just can't fit the HVAC; especially infrastructure in these buildings because they don't have a high enough floor-to-floor height. Those are some of the main things that we look at.

Q: How does the design invoke innovation and collaboration?

A: The large scale of the site enables our team to create spaces that can support the entire ecosystem of life science, and that's something that we feel is really important. So we envision spaces that will allow for the operation of life science incubators, graduation suites, you've got companies that are VC backed like VC backed startups, and then there's life science support companies, and then clinical and commercial production facilities.

If you're putting something this big on the market we need to make sure that the market that it's in can support all of those. Dallas being a smaller market, we have to come up with a way to both support all those different needs because they're all smaller.

[For] innovation and collaboration, especially in the early stages, in the incubation stage, in early VC-backed stages, you see these hubs where you have a lot of educated people that understand the science; they like to be together, they like to be able to talk outside of work, they like to have spaces where they can congregate or they can talk about the science, and that's something that we try to do in our design.

So although we focus on really awesome labs and a great office environment, it's really important to have these amenity spaces that are ample to provide that opportunity. Then one other piece that we've also programmed [is] a conference center; where not only do you have folks that are just tenants of this facility, but you can also bring in researchers, you can promote your science, you can do all of those things that are necessary to grow your company. It’s really important that we allow that innovation and the collaboration between companies to make it a vibrant ecosystem.

Q: What are some of the standout design features?

A: The size of the overall development is very unique, but the specific technical and design attributes make it pretty special.

One of the things we're most excited about is the live-work-play nature of the site. So it allows both public and private access to various parts of the development, which enables the life science stuff that I think we're so passionate about, to interact with the community through a large and lively park.

[The park is] on one side, and then that can interact with the walking public. There are a lot of multi-family housing, [and] residential areas around there, so you have this walking dynamic.

We also have giant parking garages so you can drive and create a destination as well. So we have one side of this main campus [that] is lively and fun, and we also have an entrance where we can make it professional.

You have investors coming in, you have executives coming in, and so we have to be able to manage that, but with the size and the location we have a really unique opportunity to merge both of those things together, and make it work for both sides.

The other thing is the main building itself is a really amazing example of architecture and structural design. So there's an entire multi-story building suspended five stories up in the air between two other buildings, and so we plan to enclose the area underneath that all in glass and to create a real Instagrammable moment. You walk up to it and you want to show other people that you're here, it's a really cool place, a cool architectural moment that will invoke people to put stuff on Instagram.

We have this Instagrammable moment where they can be enjoyed by both the public and the tenants, and then from a technical perspective, we're able to provide both VCE level vibration control for lab areas, lab-grade HVAC support systems, and a new CUP facility. [As well as] ample amounts of natural light.

Because of the design of this building, which we feel is really important, especially for the labs, [for the] unique opportunities in various ways for tenants to showcase their science and, or, their brand depending on how secretive they might want to be, but they can showcase their science [and] their brand through different storefronts.

So being able to create both a technical space and great design is something that I think will really energize the Dallas life science market. It's new, it's a different option, a new option, something that we think will be really cool for folks.

Q: If you could summarize your plans for the design in four words, what would they be?

A: It's collaborative, it's exciting, monumental, [and] innovative!

Q: NexPoint believes the project can be completed through a public-private partnership. Can you tell me a bit more about that?

A: It is the key to making all of this work. So with the life science center, [a] development of this size inside an existing economic environment, there's an opportunity for tremendous economic growth. To realize that growth, the development has to be done very strategically, and our concept of building up the entire life science ecosystem from early-stage R&D all the way through manufacturing or production; we think it's going to be critical to the project's success because of all that.

It requires a significant investment and vision that there are only a few trailblazing developers can support; but to offset all of that initial capital, a partnership with the public entities is going to be really important to make the project [a] reality from an economic, social, and infrastructure standpoint.

The other piece that is really important is developing [one] or multiple relationships with public research institutions, and I think there's been some discussion in the background on that, but we feel that's another really important step to the success of the project.

You'll see a lot of these developments like this, especially ones that are this big, they'll have ties to local universities or local research unit institutions that can support all different aspects of that ecosystem; but primarily are creating the initial research, the initial science, they're putting out a well-educated workforce that's excited about life science. It'll be really important and interesting to see where that goes as well.

Q: How will sustainability inform the design?

A: The first and foremost question we have to ask ourselves while we're designing it, specifically for this project is, ‘can we reuse this?’ Because by utilizing what's already there we're instantly making the project more sustainable [than] if we trash it, throw it away, and build something new. That is a good way to make this project as unsustainable as possible.

So, I think that's the first thing, it's utilizing what's there, and then secondly this is something that designers struggle with, we have to balance both the requirements of a life science building and then multi-tenant flexibility.

We have infrastructure demands, especially mechanical systems. Some [of which] are very high for lab use, and then when you don't necessarily know what the science is going to be inside of this building because it's speculative, we have to use our database of past projects.

We have to look at what sort of infrastructure is most likely going to be needed; so we both can minimize the initial costs, but also maximize the potential for the building. Nobody wants to put more infrastructure in than's necessary. We don't want to put bigger air handlers that are less efficient, and that kind of thing, but we also have to be able to make viable spaces that work for all the different sciences that might go into these facilities.

Luckily, CRB has a long list of projects where we can pull from and look to see what those metrics look like. We just tried to balance that very smartly.

The other thing that we are working towards on this project is we're specifically working to make this a WELL core building. We'd like to get certification for that, and then a SITES certification, those are both certifications that enhance the well-being of the tenants.