PHILADELPHIA , PA — Keystone Property Group has signed two leases with Aro Biotherapeutics Co. and a classified, Penn-incubated biotech company at the landmark publishing house, The Curtis. The companies join existing biotech tenants IMVAX and Vivodyne, further validating The Curtis as a premier location for the scientific community to develop and pioneer life-saving therapies.
Aro Biotherapeutics Company (Aro), a biotechnology company pioneering the development of tissue-targeted genetic medicines, will take occupancy of short-term flex lab space at The Curtis on October 1, 2021 before its permanent space is ready by January 1, 2022. Aro announced an $88 million Series A financing early this year and is moving from a smaller location in University City to accommodate growth. Its custom space at The Curtis will provide a world-class facility to enable Aro’s growing team to engage in cutting-edge scientific research. Bob Zwengler, Anthony Pell, Matt Knowles and Paul Touhey of CBRE represented Aro, while Tim Conrey, Lisa Berger Baskin and KJ Kulik of Scheer Partners represented Keystone as the landlord.
“We’re excited that Aro’s headquarters will be moving to the historic Curtis building,” said Susan Dillon, Aro’s CEO and Co-Founder. “It’s an ideal venue to support the next phase of Aro’s growth and be a part of the local biotech community.”
Keystone purchased the 12-floor, 912,245 s/f building in 2014 and converted former printing press space to wet lab space for life sciences companies like Aro, Vivodyne, and IMVAX. In October, Keystone will deliver INQ Labs at The Curtis, the market’s only self-contained, furnished lab suites offering office and lab space combinations from 3,500 s/f to 6,000 s/f.
“The decisions of these best-in-class companies further illustrate the strategic imperative of The Curtis,” said Keystone founder and CEO Bill Glazer. “Existing mission-critical features at The Curtis and Keystone’s ability to deliver on time and at cost enable us to accommodate life sciences companies with immediate needs to create a state-of-the-art facility. As a result, our tenants can occupy their spaces faster and attract the mission-critical intellectual capital of Philadelphia’s research institutions.”