Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Signs 38K-SF Lease With Columbia University

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) has found a New York City address where it will facilitate the bioengineering of immune cells.

The organization, led by meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, signed a 37,840-square-foot lease with Columbia University for space in the Studebaker Building at 615 West 131st Street, according to CBRE (CBRE).

CBRE did not disclose the asking rent or the length of the lease, but the average asking rent for life science space in New York City was $115.95 per square foot in the second quarter of 2024, according to a report from CBRE.

The lease is for the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York, a lab where scientists from Columbia, The Rockefeller University and Yale University will be able to collaborate.

“The challenge that awaits us is complex,” Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York President Andrea Califano said in a statement. “Our job at the New York Biohub will be to decipher the molecular language that allows immune cells to talk to each other, and to leverage their remarkable insights to detect and fight diseases. And ultimately we hope to make immune cells even better at winning the battle against cancers, neurodegeneration, fibrosis and many other diseases.”

CBRE’s John Isaacs and Joseph DeRosa represented the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative but it’s unclear who negotiated on behalf of Columbia. Columbia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Funding for the $300 million facility was announced in October 2023 with Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams kicking in $10 million in public funds alongside $250 million from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. New York City Economic Development Corporation and Empire State Development also provided $10 million to make the facility happen.

The New York lab space will mirror the CZI’s other facilities in San Francisco, Chicago and Redwood City, Calif.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.