Eli Lilly picks former GSK campus in RTP for $474M manufacturing plant

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly has selected a site within the old GlaxoSmithKline campus – now known as Parmer RTP – for a massive manufacturing complex.

Parmer announced the decision Tuesday morning.

Lilly disclosed plans to build a plant and create more than 460 jobs in the Triangle area last January but a specific location was not disclosed. Diabetes drugs are to be made at the site.

Plans call for the construction of several buildings across toe 110-acre site for which Lilly paid $36 million, according to a spokesperson for Parmer. “Multiple buildings for a comprehensive pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, including a quality control laboratory” are planned, added Parmer, which will act as the master developer.

“We are excited to announce our new manufacturing site in Durham,” said Myles O’Neill, senior vice president and president of Manufacturing Operations for Lilly, in a statement.

“Recruiting talented engineers, scientists and operations personnel for our facilities is important to Lilly, and we appreciate the expertise and unique amenities that Parmer has to offer our future employees at the site.”

Lilly has said the plant would be constructed over five years.

The state has approved a Job Development Investment Grant of up to $8.7 million for Lilly. The JDIG will rebate some of the state withholding taxes on the new jobs to the company if it meets annual hiring and investment targets over the next 12 years.

Durham County also will provide incentives to the company, and Durham Technical Community College will offer a customized training program for the plant’s workers.

The new jobs will pay an average salary of more than $72,000 a year, officials said, which is slightly higher than Durham County’s average of $71,750.

A Lilly spokesman said the company hopes to have the plant up and running by 2023.

The facility marks a return to the Triangle for Lilly, which had a presence in RTP back in the 1990s but discontinued lab operations in the area about 15 years ago.

Parmer RTP already is home to operations run by lab testing giant LabCorp, Duke Health and some GSK operations.

GSK sold the 20-building campus to Parmer in 2017.

“Parmer RTP was established with the aim of providing high-quality office and laboratory spaces with unparalleled amenities, all in an effort to create an environment where ideas thrive and innovation happens,” said Bart Olds, head of asset management at Parmer Innovation Centers, in the announcement. “Lilly’s purchase is the latest example of this vision coming to fruition. We’re thrilled to welcome them to the neighborhood and look forward to witnessing the ideas that come to life in this environment that’s ideally suited for seamless work-life integration.”

Parmer operates several “innovation centers” in the US and United Kingdom.

CBRE Raleigh is the leasing agent for Parmer RTP.