What the Business Is About - BioRealty, Inc. (based in San Clemente, CA, with offices in Southern California, Texas, and Washington D.C.)

Summary of BioRealty, Inc. (BRI) and the ASTRA Innovation Center Project

What the Business Is About

BioRealty, Inc. (based in San Clemente, CA, with offices in Southern California, Texas, and Washington D.C.) is a commercial real estate development and investment firm specializing in facility + capital solutions. They focus on:

• Rehabilitating and redeveloping historic or underutilized buildings.
• Creating mixed-use innovation districts/centers that combine lab space, office/innovation space, collaborative areas, retail, and residential components (e.g., lofts).
• Delivering turnkey projects via long-term master leases, tenant improvements (TI), build-outs, and public-private partnerships.
• Working with economic development organizations (EDOs) to activate downtown areas with innovation hubs that support labs, tech, research, events, and mixed-use vitality.

In this proposal, they are pitching a two-phase redevelopment of the historic 627-635 S. Kansas Avenue buildings (including the old Woolworth, middle, and Wolfe’s buildings) into the ASTRA Innovation Center:

• Phase 1 — ~22,452 SF innovation center (primarily Level 1 + Lower Level) with lab spaces (up to 5+ labs), offices, pitch room, collaborative/shared spaces, etc.
• Phase 2 — Upper levels (2 & 3) for residential lofts, additional common areas, and retail.
• Key features: Flexible lab/office build-out, potential for expansion, historic preservation, and local contractor involvement.

They emphasize cost efficiency, faster timelines (7 months to open Phase 1), local Topeka-based team (Falk Architects, Senne Company, Lofts Topeka, etc.), and better value than alternative "Innovation Center 2.0" plans.

Why They Came to Topeka

BioRealty entered Topeka specifically to partner with Go Topeka and JEDO (Joint Economic Development Organization) on a long-planned innovation center project:

• They first presented a master lease concept in January 2020.
• They purchased the buildings (~$1.5M investment) and performed due diligence/partial design based on commitments from Go Topeka.
• The project is framed as fulfilling an originally agreed arrangement: BioRealty develops/rehabilitates the historic downtown buildings; Go Topeka provides pre-lease tenancy and incentives (~$5.7M package originally) to anchor the innovation center.
• Goal: Activate iconic, strategically located historic assets in downtown Topeka, create an innovation hub/district, generate economic activity, and demonstrate successful collaboration between local EDOs and out-of-town developers.

The December 2024 letter is a detailed follow-up/response to the December 11, 2024 JEDO board meeting. It addresses miscommunications, reaffirms commitment, proposes two master lease options (with or without county lease guaranty), and pushes for a decision to move forward with a simplified, accelerated Phase 1.

In short: BioRealty is a specialized real estate developer that came to Topeka to execute a multi-year public-private deal to transform historic buildings into a modern innovation center — part of Go Topeka/JEDO’s broader economic development strategy for downtown revitalization. 

Karen Hiller 

Subject: A Few Business Realities on the Innovation Center Efforts

Dear Karen,

I know you care deeply about economic development in Topeka and are often one of the most vocal voices on these issues. Because of that, I wanted to share a few practical observations about the innovation center projects in the hope they might be helpful.

As you know, BioRealty spent over four years trying to deliver the ASTRA Innovation Center on Kansas Avenue. They purchased the buildings, invested their own time and money, worked with local partners, and repeatedly updated Go Topeka and JEDO. Despite that professional effort, the project did not move forward. That’s a clear sign that even an experienced developer struggled to make the numbers and the partnership work.

Now it appears we are preparing to launch a similar effort — sometimes referred to as “BioRealty 2.0” — this time in the Link Building, with a proposed $9.5 million commitment of sales tax dollars to another group. I’m genuinely curious how we expect this new attempt to succeed where the last one, led by professionals who actually bought the property, could not.

Go Topeka was unable to help BioRealty close the deal over four years. What exactly will be different this time that will allow success in the Link Building? Have the market conditions, leasing economics, construction costs, or partnership terms suddenly become much more favorable? Or are we simply hoping for a different outcome with the same approach?

These are not small dollars. Taxpayer money is finite, and downtown redevelopment projects are complex, expensive, and risky even under the best of circumstances. Before moving forward with another large commitment, it might be wise to take a hard look at why the first effort stalled and what concrete changes have been made to address those problems.

I’m happy to discuss the real estate and development side of these projects in more detail if it would be helpful. Sometimes the view from the development trenches is a little different than it appears from the meeting room.

Best regards,

Henry McClure MCRE, LLC Topeka, Kansas