Builds BIO+ - Nancy J Kelley + Associates

- Strategic Planning + Operational Scale-up
- Organizational Design + Governance Options
- Branding + Communications Strategy
- Market Research
- Industry Overview + Trends
- Event Programming
- Interviews with Thought Leaders
- Community Engagement

“I attended NY Symposium as a guest of Skanska's and I was blown away! What a service you are providing to New York City. You are literally building an industry. Thank you so much for all that you do.” Liz Archer, Business Development / Client Relations Manager, FCA - Francis Cauffman Architects

Situation:

After years of working to develop a thriving life science cluster in New York City, the New York life sciences marketplace had experienced tremendous growth and in 2018, had the lowest vacancy and highest rental rates in the country. New York City’s 1.7+ million square feet of life science real estate was fully occupied. The lack of life sciences infrastructure could have a long-term negative impact on life science employment concentration and growth. The short-term challenge was to secure the right spaces quickly, create interconnected dynamic environments, and attract and retain talent, while the long- term challenge was to develop more challenging parcels and find opportunities for developing open parcels of land proximate to academic institutions.

Action:

Nancy J Kelley + Associates (NJK+A) organized a Steering Committee comprised of principals from five of the leading firms in NYC, which included legal, engineering, construction, life science firms and a building owner to partially fund and launch the inaugural 2018 Life Science Real Estate Development Symposium.

The 2018 Symposium was intended to bring the life science and real estate industries together in NYC, to envision how both might work together to envision a future of biology for NYC and educate the life science and real estate communities about what was needed to alleviate the shortage of life science space in NYC. In response to the overwhelmingly positive response from both communities, NJK+A worked with the Steering Committee to create a new nonprofit organization in NYC called NYC Builds BIO+.

NJK+A led the legal, financial and administrative effort to launch the organization and obtain Section 501(c)(3) tax exempt status, as well as development of the website, marketing and branding of the new initiative and development of membership outreach and programming. Nancy J Kelley served on the Steering Committee and as Co-CEO of the organization

Results:

NYC Builds BIO+ was launched in 2018 to connect commercial life science opportunities to New York City’s real estate development community through events, research, reports and educational programs, in order to jump start life science real estate development. In the first 4 years of operation, NYC Builds BIO+ attracted over 100 members and built a community of 1300 individuals. Since its inception, NYCBB+ has created 47 sold-out/well attended events: five annual Life Science Real Estate Development Symposia and several quarterly breakfasts, membership receptions and online webinars attended/viewed by nearly 10,000 people. NYCBB+ has offered tours of the New York Genome Center, JLABS, Long Island City and Rockefeller University’s new Riverside Campus, Manhattanville Factory District and CUNY Advanced Science Research Center. The organization also worked with the New York Building Congress to create the first White Paper on Healthcare and Life Science facilities in NYC. Finally, multiple major new life science real estate projects in NYC were announced, with numerous additional projects in the works that will offer space in future years.

In 2023, the organization rebranded to Builds Bio+, launched a new website and membership portal and expanded to the Greater New York Metro and Philadelphia markets.