MIAMI-National intellectual property law firm Novak Druce + Quigg has inked an office lease in the University of Miami’s Life Science & Technology Park. The firm will take up residence in park’s first building, a 252,000-square-foot facility that will house wet and dry labs, office and retail space, and lab-ready development suites. Terms of the lease agreement were not disclosed.
“We view the University of Miami Life Science & Technology Park as one of the State’s premier R&D facilities, a place that will both nurture the dynamic community of technologists, researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators in South Florida and draw new companies to the region,” says Warren Pinkerton, Chief Strategy Officer for Novak Druce. “The quality and sheer amount of research and innovation coming out of both the University of Miami and South Florida is compelling, and frankly, very exciting.”
The Novack Druce lease is the latest example of the diverse tenant types that are inking early deals at UMLSTP, which is being developed by Wexford Science & Technology. With the Novack Druce lease, the first phase facility is 41% pre-leased. Other signed tenants include the University of Miami Tissue Bank, Daya Medicals, and the Enterprise Development Corporation of South Florida.
“If you look at the continuum of technology commercialization, the IP disclosure, protection and licensing is an early and obligatory step in getting technology from a university into the public sector,” Catherine Vorwald, director of business development for Wexford Science & Technology, tells GlobeSt.com. “Novak Druce’s role, albeit early, is very necessary and if it is done correctly can add value to the technology.”
Novak Druce, which has a strong life sciences practice at offices across the U.S., plans to assist companies based at the UMLSTP and throughout the Miami area in securing, defending, protecting, and challenging intellectual property status for their products in preparation for commercialization. The firm has existing offices in Houston, Washington, D.C, San Francisco, and West Palm Beach.
“We are working on deals right now for disciplines like contract research organizations,” Vorwald says. “We are also talking with a contract manufacturer. Clusters like Boston work so well because they have all of these working components contained locally. So each new cluster, like Miami is, needs to get that infrastructure in place and a research park is a good place to coalesce all those activities.”
The first phase of the UMLSTP is set for completion in the summer of 2011. The project’s current master plan includes five buildings offering between 1.6 and 2 million square feet of space. In addition to lab and office space, the park will contain restaurants and retail to serve the Miami Health District and residents of nearby neighborhoods. Development of the park’s first building is projected to create more than 1,150 direct and indirect jobs, with an additional 2,700-plus direct and indirect positions created by ongoing operations, according to a recent study by the Washington Economics Group.
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