Plans to add a biosciences technology park to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in unincorporated West Carson have received the approval of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
The new campus, slated for roughly 15 acres of land near the intersection of Carson Street and Normandie Avenue, is proposed by The Lundquist Institute - formerly known as LA BioMed - which intends to partner with a developer. Plans call for replacing a series of World War II-era military barracks with three new buildings containing 250,000 square feet of laboratory, manufacturing, and office space.
“This is a truly momentous occasion for The Lundquist Institute, as we can now move full speed ahead on creating a campus that provides bioscience innovations a soup-to-nuts opportunity all on one 72 acre campus, from the medical center, to the research institute, to our bioscience incubator and finally, the tech park,” said Lundquist Institute president and chief executive officer Dr. David Meyer in a news release.
The Lundquist Institute's bioscience park will occupy the Harbor-UCLA property for an initial term of 55 years under a lease agreement with Los Angeles County. The terms also include two optional 20-year extensions.
The project is intended to serve as an incubator for early-stage bioscience companies, enabling Los Angeles to compete with existing hubs in the San Diego, Boston, and Bay Areas. The Lundquist Institute has already opened one such facility for that purpose - called BioLabs - which currently houses more than 20 startups.
The Lundquist Institute currently occupies 11 acres of the Harbor-UCLA campus, including a four-story, 78,000-square-foot research facility which opened in 2019.
Construction of the new campus is could occur in phases, according to a lease agreement reviewed by the County Board of Supervisors in July. The initial $150-million phase would consist of 180,000 square feet of space.
