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As Austin aims to attract more life sciences companies, this suburb vies to be a hub for the sector

Cedar Park has unique land ripe for a dazzling business hub


By Justin Sayers – Senior Staff Writer, Austin Business Journal | Jul 14, 2025
Updated Jul 14, 2025 8:37pm CDT

Cedar Park, a suburb of roughly 78,000 people about 20 miles northwest of downtown Austin, has been courting life sciences companies in recent years. Enovis Corp. marks its biggest win, which picked the suburb for a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that will create at least 162 jobs. But there also have been a handful of smaller victories, and observers contend the pipeline holds the potential for plenty more.

That has led Cedar Park officials to seek partners to build a life sciences cluster, according to Arthur Jackson, the city's chief economic development officer. It would be the center of a mixed-use development in the 215-acre former Lime Creek Quarry. The city acquired the unique property in 2015 and has been working to clear it for development.

"We're kind of sitting in a really good position to capitalize to be able to build Austin's first true life sciences hub and anchor point that gives somewhere for potentially bigger companies to come in and take space," Jackson said, adding that the center could serve companies graduating out of incubation programs, such as Texas State University's STAR Park or Round Rock campus, or even Austin Community College programs.

It's an ambitious goal that hasn't played out well in other parts of the Austin area.

For instance, Austin leaders have been trying to build out an "innovation district" south of the University of Texas' medical school and north of downtown that would be a place where tech and medicine meet. Its marquee building, Innovation Tower, sat empty for quite some time and is still only 16% occupied.

On the northwest side of town, Karlin Real Estate LLC revamped and repositioned a former 3M campus to be the next life sciences mecca. That was a year ago, and no leases have been announced yet.

Opportunity Austin, which handles economic development efforts in the region, has made life sciences a focus, like the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce did before it at the turn of the century. Officials estimate there are 300 life science companies in the area that employ more than 21,000 people. That's set to grow. For instance, BillionToOne, a unicorn molecular diagnostics company that develops DNA-based tests to detect health problems, will occupy the first building of a six-building life sciences campus in Northeast Austin.

Representatives of Opportunity Austin attended a recent biotech conference in Boston, and the region was described by a trade publication as an area in the world to watch for life sciences growth — so hopes are high for the sector.

OA Chief Economic Development Officer Susan Davenport said in a statement that the growth in life sciences depends on regional communities, including Cedar Park, taking "intentional steps" toward helping the sector achieve long-term success here.

"The Austin region is rapidly transforming its tech foundation into a next-generation life sciences hub, blending medtech, AI, and biomanufacturing into a powerful innovation pipeline," she said. "Our collaborative, cross-sector ecosystem, bolstered by world-class institutions and strategic regional investment, positions us not just as a top emerging market, but as a future global leader in life sciences."

Early stages but big ideas

Jackson has been discussing the campus with the development community, city staff and council members. He also said he has incorporated ideas from a recent inter-city trip to the Raleigh-Durham area and a recruitment trip last year to the Bay Area — both of which have prominent life sciences sectors.

The latter included connecting with DES, a Bay Area architecture firm that specializes in life sciences buildings and last year opened an office in Austin. Jackson visited a few of the company's projects, including one called The Cove at Oyster Point in San Francisco that has about 1.5 million square feet of life sciences space on 20 acres, along with other mixed uses.

Kevin Norman, principal at DES, said The Cove "changed the way that life sciences are designed and built." DES essentially took the model of tech clients — think more amenities and a community-focused campus with walking paths and outdoor seating areas — and brought it into the life sciences industry.

DES did a pro-bono design on the Lime Creek property in Cedar Park. It would include roughly 90 acres of developable space with hospitality uses, life sciences office space, other office space with retail amenities, community amenities and medium-density residential uses. The life sciences capability could reach half a million square feet, and the campus would have a pedestrian walking bridge, water features, parks and more.

"I really think that campus is going to end up being a multiuse campus with components that serve life sciences or office and components that provide amenities for the citizens in the surrounding neighborhoods," Norman said. "We're excited to get more into it and really work to figure out what's the right mix on that site. Just how to put it all together to see how it benefits everybody."

Jackson said the effort "captured some things that Cedar Park needs." Cedar Park has been looking to establish a third, westside node of development to join the upcoming CedarView and Bell District projects. The city needs more hotel space to complement the Marriott Hotel and Convention Center also on the way. And the city would like high-end restaurant and retail uses surrounding an employment center.

A potential site plan for the redevelopment of the Lime Creek Quarry into a life sciences mixed-use development.
A potential site plan for the redevelopment of the Lime Creek Quarry into a life sciences mixed-use development.
Screenshot of city of Cedar Park documents


The project also would fill regional needs. Jackson recalled when he started working at Opportunity Austin in 2015, and when the Dell Medical School welcomed its first class in 2016. The organization was urging companies then to relocate or expand and would ask the same question they do today: Where is the city's life sciences cluster?

"The problem that we're facing 10 years from my Day 1 stepping in OA is that those companies that are leaving those bio-accelerators and incubators have nowhere to go in Austin. Either the space is too much — a broker wants you to take too much down. Or it's too expensive. Or it's not in the right area and you can't attract talent, people can't afford to live in those areas," Jackson said.

Cedar Park is aiming to grow like Silicon Valley did, meaning large companies evolving from startups. The city has been focusing on innovation and the life sciences industry as part of its strategic plan that seeks more density amid dwindling land availability.

"We don't have the land that Taylor has or Lockhart or something like that, so we're not going after those gigafactories and competing for some of those same projects," Jackson said.

But he views Cedar Park's ownership of the quarry land as a distinct advantage. Controlling the land means it can be more selective with development and can help connect companies to space, because building speculative life sciences facilities can be expensive. Cedar Park purchased the land from the city of Austin and has since been partnering with Ranger Excavating LP on reclamation work, some of which will continue for several more years.

"That's been the problem with some of our larger tracts of land that are not necessarily owned by the city is how do we get some of these developers to realize we do need this space, the Austin-area as a whole needs the space, and how do we get that done. The easiest way to do that is to partner with the city," Jackson said.

Companies flock to Cedar Park

In addition to Enovis, life sciences companies that have expanded or relocated to Cedar Park include Prescription Dispensing Laboratories Inc. and Zeteo Biomedical LLC.

The most recent addition was ExoDiscovery Technologies Inc. The company has developed technology that can detect and monitor cancer, and last month announced it was headed to Cedar Park. It was founded in South Korea in 2018 and moved last year to San Diego as part of an incubator program at a university there. It offers liquid biopsy solutions for early cancer detention, including hard-to-detect cancers like pancreatic and lung.

In looking for a new HQ, co-founder and CEO Kyu Lee said the company considered Boston — perhaps the country's biggest life sciences hub — and Maryland because he had connections there. But it found reasonable prices for both space and labor in Cedar Park, as well as good business regulations and proximity to world-class cancer hospitals in Austin, Dallas and Houston for potential collaboration.

ExoDiscovery has three employees at its 1,500-square-foot office at 1460 E. Whitestone Blvd. and is aiming to grow to 20 in three years with grants and investor funding, as well as reach $500,000 per month in revenue by 2026. It has 16 employees who handle research and design in South Korea. It currently manufactures there and in Germany but is aiming to partner with a contract manufacturer here.

Lee said the biggest challenge has been courting collaborators in a new place.

"We are doing the fundraising and at the same time we are making some contact with local distributors who can do the advertisement and promotion of our tests to potential customers, like mostly oncologists and cancer patients, by visiting individual hospitals and research hospitals," he said.

Zeteo Biomedical LLC, a leading innovator in nasal and sublingual drug and vaccine delivery devices, recently moved back to Cedar Park after leaving before the pandemic. The company, located in a 3,000-square-foot space at 2000 Windy Terrace, plans to employ about a dozen people. The company partners with global pharmaceutical and biotech organizations to develop treatments for infectious diseases and autoimmune and ocular disorders.

Zeteo Biomedical founder and CEO Timothy Sullivan said at the time of the move that Cedar Park presented a "strategic location" for the company.

When Enovis picked Cedar Park this year, executives noted that Central Texas initially ranked fourth in its list of areas under consideration. But it said it eventually picked Cedar Park because of the incentive package available and because of the city's pro-business and aggressive recruitment and pledge to help with workforce development.

"I think the effort level and commitment from Cedar Park just really stood out throughout the whole process," Enovis' Shayne Myhand, vice president of manufacturing and supply chain, previously said. "We needed a partner to grow with, and Cedar Park positioned themselves as the best long-term partner to grow with."

Featured photo: The 215-acre Lime Creek Quarry, which is owned by the city of Cedar Park, is being remediated with the hope of turning it into a mixed-use development with an emphasis on life sciences space.