TCC and Beacon Top Out Construction at Hyde Park Labs in Chicago

Trammell Crow Company (TCC), a global real estate development firm, and Beacon Capital Partners (Beacon), a leading real estate developer, owner, and manager of lab and office properties, announced that construction has topped out at Hyde Park Labs in Chicago. The South Side’s first commercial, purpose-built advanced R&D lab, Hyde Park Labs is in the diverse and vibrant neighborhood of Hyde Park, located at 5207 Harper Court. The building is expected to welcome its first tenants in early 2025, after the delivery of the base building in Q4 2024. The University of Chicago has already pre-leased approximately 55,000 square feet at the building, which will house a half-floor incubator space to support early-stage science research.

Rising 13 stories above grade and spanning more than 300,000 square feet, Hyde Park Labs will feature nine full floors of Class A lab and office space, as well as activated ground-level retail and lobby; parking will be available on one level of below-grade and three floors of above-grade space . The facility will include 40,000 square feet of tenant amenities, including a fifth-floor terrace dubbed “The Lawn” that will feature grills, firepits, views of Lake Michigan and connection to the interior tenant lounge. The building will also offer private terraces on every floor, secure on-site bike storage, an indoor bar and lounge, an executive boardroom, as well as a STEM engagement center for students on the ground floor.

“Hyde Park Labs is situated at the epicenter of the Hyde Park downtown neighborhood, where there has been tremendous innovation driven in large part by the transformative deep tech, medical and quantum research and entrepreneurship led by the University of Chicago,” said TCC’s Morgan Baer-Blaska. “The proximity and partnership with this world-class institution allows us to further support a science ecosystem that is already growing rapidly in this market.

“We are excited to see the continued progress at Hyde Park Labs,” said Samir Mayekar, Managing Director of the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. “Having access to lab space right here in Hyde Park will advance our innovation ecosystem and catalyze the work of the University’s industry-leading researchers, forward-thinking entrepreneurs, and overall South Side community.”

Hyde Park Labs is the second phase of development at Harper Court, which currently includes a hotel, an office building that houses UChicago administrative offices, and retail space. The TCC/Beacon development plan and design was crafted to create an innovative R&D and science hub with direct community benefits.

“Chicago’s strong employment base and its standing as a top research cluster in the US make Hyde Park Labs, through its partnership with the University of Chicago, a vital and innovative location to attract and support the incubation of early and growth stage companies on the cutting edge of scientific and technological discovery,” said Fred Seigel, President and CEO, Beacon Capital Partners.

As the City of Chicago aims to strengthen its position as a technology and advanced sciences hub, the project will contribute lab space and infrastructure needed to support that ecosystem, including nine floors of lab-enabled space and heavy infrastructure for lab or technology uses. The project will feature a range of spaces to meet the needs of startups, interim-stage companies, and larger corporations, including shared wet or dry lab and office space. The building will also include new levels of parking, ground-floor retail and community space, and outdoor green space, as well as a full-time community engagement specialist to lead programming.

Dan Lyne and Brandon Green of CBRE are the exclusive marketing and leasing agents for the project. Additional partners include Elkus Manfredi Architects, Interactive Design Architects, Power Construction, Ujamaa, and Trinal, who is acting as the development’s diversity and inclusion consulting company.