Developer Tarlton Properties broke ground Wednesday the first of six buildings planned for a life-sciences campus in Northeast Austin.
BillionToOne, a molecular diagnostics company that develops DNA-based tests to detect health problems, will occupy the 220,000-square-foot building, with an expected move-in by the end of 2026. Both Tarlton and BillionToOne operate out of Menlo Park, California.
The planned campus is in the EastVillage ATX, 425-acre mixed-use development on Parmer Lane near Samsung Austin Semiconductor. It should bring about 1 million square feet of life sciences space to the Austin market, Tarlton Properties CEO John Tarlton said.
“BTO points to Austin’s energy and culture and attractiveness to young people as a key reason for choosing to expand here. BTO gets it. Austin is Austin in part because we’ve always had what I refer to as our fountain of youth” — meaning the University of Texas, Huston-Tillotson University, Concordia University, St. Edward’s University, and Austin Community College, which draw and train highly educated professionals in the area — Mayor Kirk Watson said at the groundbreaking . “Every year, thousands of new young people come into town to attend those schools. They’re young, they’re vibrant, they’re vital, they’re looking to the future and they’ve got new thoughts, new ideas, new music, new culture, greater diversity.”
BillionToOne — which was valued over $1 billion last year after raising more than $100 million — focuses on prenatal and oncology diagnostics. The new facility is expected to be able to handle up to 6 million molecular diagnostics tests annually and offer jobs ranging from lab technicians to post-doctoral researchers.
Austin's STG Design is overseeing architecture of the first building, and also-local White Construction is general contractor.
No incentives are being provided to the project, said BTO’s Oguzhan Atay, but he credited Texas’ business-friendly climate and the ability to start within BTO’S preferred timeline with the company’s decision to expand into the Austin area.
