Date: Mar 22, 2013 Author: Duane Shimogawa Source: bizjournals (
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Tissue Genesis Inc., a cell therapy and regenerative-medicine company based in Honolulu, is moving into a bigger space in Downtown Honolulu in June in a building that will be renamed after it.
The company will be moving from the 677 Ala Moana Building, formerly known as the Gold Bond Building, where it has been in for a decade, to the 10-story Clifford Center.
Alexander & Baldwin Inc.'s subsidiary A&B Properties is buying the Clifford Center from Pacific Office Properties for $11.2 million in a deal expected to close next month.
Tissue Genesis occupies two floors at 677 Ala Moana totaling 9,000 square feet. It originally moved into the building 10 years ago to support the nearby John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii. At one time, it also was supposed to be an area for biotech companies.
At the Clifford Center, the company will lease out three floors encompassing 11,000 square feet.
Anton Krucky, co-founder, president and CEO of Tissue Genesis, told PBN that the new digs will allow them to separate their three key functions, which include office, lab and product/fabrication areas.
Tissue Genesis, which has 30 employees, mostly biologists and mechanical engineers, will add another three employees this year, Krucky said.
"With our name on a building in downtown, it's just another step in our growth and development," he said. "Downtown can be exciting for employees to have a good experience."
The company recently was awarded a $2 million contract from NASA to study how adult human stem cells react in the weightless environment of space.
Tissue Genesis also was one of 11 Hawaii technology companies that attended the "Hawaii Tech Asia" trip in Hong Kong and Beijing last year to obtain crucial business experience and form partnerships.
Steven Marcus, a tenant advisory services executive for SN Realty LLC, represented Tissue Genesis in the 10-year lease agreement.
