Hyde Park Labs held its grand opening on Tuesday, marking the launch of the first commercial, advanced R&D lab building on the South Side, as well as another push to establish Chicago as a tech and quantum computing hub.
The 13-story building at 5207 S. Harper Ave. has offices, labs, retail space and a community STEM learning center. The project also gives another boost to strengthening Hyde Park’s 53rd Street commercial corridor.
The University of Chicago has leased more than 150,000 square feet in the building.
That includes its new UChicago Science Incubator, a partnership between the university’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Portal Innovations, a life sciences venture capital firm that built and manages the incubator space.
Hyde Park Labs is “an important milestone” that will spur local innovation and “help energize the local economy,” Paul Alivisatos, University of Chicago’s president, said at the building’s opening on Tuesday.
Hyde Park Labs aims to be a hub for deep tech innovation and quantum computing in Chicago. It will host IBM’s next-generation quantum computer before it eventually moves to the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park. The quantum computing campus will be at the former U.S. Steel South Works site.
“Hyde Park Labs and the UChicago Science Incubator are a milestone for innovation on Chicago’s South Side,” John Flavin, CEO of Portal Innovations, said. “Portal’s mission has always been to bridge the gap between academia and private industry. The partnership with the University of Chicago will allow us to help grow innovative life sciences, quantum and deep-tech startups, locally.”
The UChicago Science Incubator is home to more than a dozen life sciences and tech start-ups. They include memQ, Exactics, Chem Impex, KossMek, Neuro Innovations, Quantum Machines, Signl, STAC12, Theta Neurotech and ZipBionexus Technologies.
MemQ, the incubator’s first tenant, is developing quantum networking technologies after spinning off from the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory.
The start-up wanted to be close to the planned Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, as well as University of Chicago resources, co-founder Sean Sullivan said.
Hyde Park Labs is “important for creating a robust startup ecosystem,” Sullivan said.
Other incubator tenants include HaloGen, an MIT spin-off developing batteries for medical devices, and Cell Therapy, which is developing medicine products to treat neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
The university is also leasing building space for researchers from the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and its Biological Sciences Division.
“By embedding researchers and students in an environment designed for cross-pollination with startups, corporate partners and fellow scientists, the university is creating new opportunities to accelerate breakthroughs in areas vital to the world’s future, such as clean energy and quantum technology,” said the University of Chicago in a statement.
Work done at Hyde Park Labs will be “important for the community and the world” and bring an “influx of people and activity” to the area, said Nadya Mason, dean of the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. “I can’t wait to see the impact of the work done here on the economy and our well-being.”
Hyde Park Labs is the second phase of Harper Court, an adjacent retail, office and hotel development. Harper Court opened in 2013 and features a Hyatt hotel, LA Fitness, Chipotle Mexican Grill and other shops that have strengthened the 53rd Street commercial corridor. The Obama Foundation moved to Harper Court in 2016.
Hyde Park Labs is also home to the Southside STEM Station, a community learning center for South Side educators, families and students. It offers free STEM programs for the local community, such as after-school and summer programs, community events and teacher professional development. The Southside STEM Station opened in May.
Developer Trammell Crow Company and Beacon Capital Partners, a real estate investment firm and owner of life science properties, led the development of Hyde Park Labs.
