Fostering innovation, connection, and community
The Ancora Difference
We believe in the power of anchor institutions to elevate the human experience. That belief underlines the importance of relationships in the work we do.
Similar to how our approach goes beyond tangible structures, we go beyond the transaction, cultivating deep relationships with higher education leadership, commercialization professionals, entrepreneurial faculty and researchers, civic and sector leadership, investors, and economic development organizations.
Our strategy and execution, grounded as they are in these relationships, are unique – creative, adaptive, and immersive.
Understanding our clients and their disparate stakeholders enables us to align with institutional aims and help clients achieve them. It results in expanding the capabilities of institutions and their shared communities.
That holds true with every engagement, from focused and finite projects to those of much grander scale and expansive time horizons.
Committed Capital
We have partnered with Legal & General Capital, a leading UK institutional investor with a strong track record of partnering and investing in the science and technology sector, including over $5 billion currently committed to development initiatives at Oxford and Manchester universities.
We share an aligned focus on investing in socially, environmentally, and economically responsible developments. Together, we are growing a real estate platform dedicated to driving science and technology growth across the US.
Connections & Insights
Our institutional capital is aligned with the decades-long investment horizons of anchor institutions, allowing us to make decisions that move beyond traditional development yield metrics.
Accordingly, Ancora is highly attuned to understanding our clients’ shorter-run needs and longer-term aspirations, institutional culture, and the local and regional environment in which the anchor institutions are rooted. By considering these elements, we cultivate sustainable, enduring physical projects.
Integrated into our core capabilities is Ancora’s Connections & Insights (C&I) team. It leads in establishing relationships with higher education and academic medical institutions, and remains engaged for the long haul. We aim to build partnerships that stick… to the institution, Ancora, and the places jointly created.
C&I executes on long-term strategy through:
- Assessing the relative innovation profiles of areas and institutions alike through data analytics
- Proactively managing relationships with local government, economic and civic organizations, brokers, and emerging tech and life sciences firms
- Placemaking and activating open spaces, first-floor uses and programming throughout a development – aligned with institutional and project goals
- Securing sources of public and philanthropic funding for critical programming
- Prospecting national and regional organizations for potential research, commercial or community partnerships
Our team includes academic and research community leaders with extensive experience – individuals known across industries for strengthening research translation, commercialization approaches, and economic and social impacts.
C&I’s involvement can lead to new commercial and research relationships and opportunities, longer term tenancies with relevant tenants, and heightened local employment generation and business growth.