Feb. 6—Santa Fe biotechnology firm Specifica plans to expand next month into the city-owned portion of the Market Station building in the Railyard.

Specifica has been located in the privately owned section of Market Station since 2021, but the antibody engineering company has grown during the COVID-19 era. The city will move its Economic Development, Community Services, Affordable Housing and Public Works departments and Parking Division out of Market Station to make way for Specifica's expansion into 11,908 square feet of city-owned space.

The firm expects the City Council to approve its expansion on March 8.

The city owns 21,474 square feet on the second floor, and Tim and Barbara Thompson since February 2022 have owned 59,729 square feet of Market Station, which includes all of the ground floor and about one-third of the second floor. Market Station tenants include REI, Opuntia and Restoration Pizza.

The initial five-year lease starts June 1, with the first-year rent of $226,252 starting about Jan. 1 as Specifica is awarded its occupancy permit, city documents state. Specifica will also pay the city's $500,000 moving costs into the Monica Roybal Center and Marcy Plaza buildings, city Economic and Community Development Director Rich Brown said.

Specifica will move into the space currently occupied by the city offices because the other half of the city-owned space has had no tenant improvements, Brown said.

Specifica, founded in 2016, builds antibody libraries and selects antibodies for client use. In June, Specifica announced its Generation 3 Antibody Discovery Program was transferred to global pharmaceutical and health care giant Sanofi.

Specifica did not return calls for comment.