Granta Park today announced that PPD, Inc., a global contract research organization with more than 10,200 professionals worldwide, has signed a 10-year agreement to prelet an additional 40,000 square feet, marking the second time in five years that the company has expanded its operations at the 600,000 square-foot science park. 

Construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2008. The expansion will be completed by autumn 2009 and will include office areas and a training suite. Once complete, PPD will occupy 90,000 square feet at the Cambridge facility.

“We are delighted to work with PPD once more to expand their facility,” said Roger Quince, Granta Park managing director. “Some high-tech sector companies can find it hard to predict their future needs. Rather than forcing them to second-guess their requirements, our approach is to offer to meet their immediate space needs and include an option on a neighbouring plot, which can be built on at a later date. The end result is an attractive, campus-style facility. For all prelets we start with a blank canvass and work with the client to design the right building for them.”

“With demand growing for our drug development services, now is the right time to expand to enable us to continue to meet our clients’ needs,” said Chris Neild, vice president of finance for PPD. “Over the years, we have developed a good working relationship with the Granta Park team, and we have been very pleased with the design and development process.”

Granta Park is conveniently located in the middle of Cambridge’s high-technology cluster. PPD moved into Granta Park in 2002 when it took 28,500 sq ft in its first prelet. The first expansion, called “PPD Phase II,” was completed in 2005 and added 22,000 sq ft. 

With offices in 30 countries, PPD provides discovery, development and post-approval services as well as compound partnering programs. Its clients and partners include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government organizations.