Rothschild
Dr. Andrew Rothschild was involved in a number of historic re-development projects in New York and was a practicing physician and an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the State University of New York until moving to North Carolina and turning to real estate development and construction full-time.
Rothschild founded Scientific Properties in Chapel Hill to develop and build life sciences facilities in the area. He is also active in scientific and entrepreneurial education and community development and leads Laboratories for Learning, a not-for-profit organization devoted to creating public educational opportunities in biotechnology, particularly for socio-economically disadvantaged youth. In this interview, Rothschild discusses his background, current projects, and Laboratories for Learning.
How did you first become involved in the development of Scientific Properties?
After moving to the Triangle in 2000 and making the career change from being a medical doctor in an academic medical center to doing real estate development, I became aware of what I saw as an unmet need for someone to provide expert, value-added real estate development services for primarily private and small-cap (public) life sciences companies. Simply put there were far too few choices for such companies when it came to their lab space needs, and most of the choices were typically problematic in terms of cost, quality, design, flexibility, etc. I spent the better part of a year researching best-of-type lab design and visiting leading examples (many European in approach) of such lab buildings. We also put together a financial corpus, which was far better matched to the needs of emerging and small market companies than what was available elsewhere. In essence we sought to provide our smaller clients with the same (or better) quality facilities as the big boys had access to but on terms that were more appropriate for them. Also, my own background in medical science allows me to sit down with the client directly - not only the CFO or operations/facilities person - and ask not just 'How many square feet do you need?' but 'What's the science? What are the protocols and equipment? Et cetera.' I think this allows us to be better partners for our clients; it's not just a one-way street, we can help them make better choices to leverage their time and resources.
I think that when you can talk to one person who can provide you with everything from optimal lab design to in-house financing, it makes for a pretty compelling value for our clients - regardless of whether they are leading academic institutions, big pharma or a couple of post-docs spinning out of the university.
What is your latest development project in the Triangle?
The Triangle Biotechnology Center at Venable is currently under construction and will open this spring. It will feature the adaptive re-use of former tobacco warehouses in downtown Durham as a 100,000-square-foot campus for life science and related companies. It will include wet-lab and general R&D space for both start-ups and well-established companies, as well as space suitable for pilot manufacturing and other specialty uses. We will also have office space for firms, which would find added value in locating on a life sciences campus such as CRO's, VC's, attorneys, and other service firms that have - or are seeking to develop - an active life science practice. The project is just minutes from RTP via the (uncrowded) Durham Freeway (147) and a stone's throw from Duke University Medical Center.
Our tenants will be one block from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and the new American Tobacco Complex with its great assortment of retail (including a Starbucks), office (Intersouth Partners and Duke University) and residential (coming soon!).
What kind of partnerships have you developed with the state's universities and community colleges?
I have worked with the educational institutions of our state to help assure that both facilities and programs are state of the art so that we are able to continue to educate and train the competitive workforce which is the envy of our colleagues today and one which will keep us on the hyper-competitive vanguard of tomorrow. This has included work with both the University of North Carolina and the North Carolina Community College systems. Industries may consist of companies, but companies are made up of people. So in my mind the greatest of our strengths as a leading biotech state (and we do have many strengths) is not even the RTP or our wonderful assortment of life science companies - it's really the character and culture of our people as manifest in their continued enlightened willingness to step-up and invest time and time again in the most important asset of all - their own education. Our universities, community colleges and other research, educational and training institutions are unparalleled resources, which when well-tended provide everything from the discovery to the work force required to produce the product based on the discovery.
What is Laboratories for Learning, and what are some of its upcoming summer programs?
As we were completing our first lab space project in Durham, Laboratories for Learning started as a germ
of an idea for how to give back to the community and how to reach out and work with our socio-economically disadvantaged youth so as to assure that benefits of biotechnology and entrepreneurship could reach a wider audience. We partnered with local businesses, universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham and launched our first BioSummer program in 2002. I think we had 16 middle school and high school students that first year - all from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. For two weeks they worked hands-on with scientists and executives at local life science companies learning both the bench science and the business of biotech. In addition, they had work groups led by local experts on venture capital, patent law, bioethics, etc. On the last day, the students made formal presentations to the scientists and managers who had mentored them over the time of the program. It was a delightful success embraced by students, parents and local companies.
We've been fortunate in being able to expand the program and the organization significantly over the past several years - thanks in no small part to the generous support of organizations such as the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and the Burroughs- Wellcome Fund. We now have summer programs in Winston-Salem and Greenville, as well as in Durham. The Durham program now has over 50 students each summer and is conducting additional programs in science and entrepreneurship during the school year.