HANOVER, NJ-Dendreon Corp. has signed a full-building lease for 158,242 sf of industrial space at 220 Hanover Ave. here. The Seattle-based biotech company will use the building as office, warehouse, lab and manufacturing space, specifically focusing on the development of Provenge, a proposed immunology project aimed at treating prostate cancer.

"We intend to develop this facility to meet the anticipated clinical and commercial manufacturing needs for Provenge, as well as our other active immunotherapy product candidates in development," says Mitchell H. Gold, president and CEO of Dendreon.

The deal was arranged for Dendreon by the Staubach Co., specifically by R. Hans Kemp, a principal in that firm's Seattle office, and James J. Medenbach, a vice president in Staubach's Murray Hill office. The owner of the building, First Industrial Realty Trust, which has its New Jersey office in Pine Valley, was represented by Scott D. Peck, senior vice president, and Thomas P. Consiglio, EVP of Resource Realty of Parsippany.

The lease is a net lease for an initial term of seven years with multiple options. It carries a base rent of $5.75 per sf for the first year, rising to $7.25 per sf in year seven. The now-formerly vacant building is exclusively listed on Resource Realty's website at a rate of $7 per sf for its industrial space and $14 per sf for its office space component.

"We provided site selection services to identify candidate buildings that met Dendreon's requirements," Medenbach says. "We also procured economic incentives, working closely with the State of New Jersey." Details of the financial package from the state have not been released.

Built in 1987, 220 Hanover Ave. consists of about 150,000 sf of industrial space, as well as an office component of just over 8,200 sf. The building's site of just under 29.3 acres is expandable, although it has not been given clearance for a specific amount of space.

Besides Provenge, Dendreon's product pipeline includes monoclonal antibody and small molecule product candidates, according to the company's website. The company also has R&D alliances with Genentech, Abgenix and Dyax.