Salt Lake City — The Gateway is pleased to welcome its newest life sciences tenant, Perfect Day, Inc. — the biotechnology leader that developed the world’s first animal-free milk protein. The nearly 60,000-square-foot space is part of The Gateway’s BioHive hub, a campus featuring commercial and laboratory space in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City that has been designed to uniquely accelerate the growth of life sciences and biotech companies. As downtown’s arts and culture district with a variety of dining and retail offerings, The Gateway is a vibrant setting for employers and their workforce. Perfect Day will join The Gateway’s community of life science tenants with over 200,000 sq ft currently leased. Construction will begin immediately on the state-of-the-art facility, which will serve as Perfect Day’s second United States location (in addition to Berkeley, CA), and a critical base for its fast-growing Enterprise Biology business, through which other world-changing companies can benefit from the Perfect Day’s powerful biology platform that enabled their current commercial success.

The expansion to Salt Lake City is in partnership with the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (Go Utah) for an EDTIF tax credit. Utah will serve as a critical site for Perfect Day to pursue its mission to create a kinder, greener tomorrow. Over the next four years, Perfect Day plans to add over 60 new high-paying positions to its Salt Lake City team.

“Perfect Day is an exciting addition to Salt Lake City, which is home to a fast-growing life sciences industry. Having evolved into a dynamic campus for life sciences companies to grow and innovate, The Gateway is a valuable partner in supporting our initiatives to grow the city’s biotech and life sciences ecosystem,” commented Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall.

This new US location will accelerate Perfect Day’s ability to scale its Enterprise Biology business unit, delivering scale-up production, IP licensing, strain services, and other offerings to a diverse range of biotechnology, biopharmaceutical, and life science customers. As Perfect Day’s investment into Utah deepens, so does its ability to deliver on its environmental impact initiatives. Perfect Day harnesses biology to create novel ingredients that cater to evolving consumer demands for more compassionate, sustainable products and help companies of all sizes, across multiple industries, improve and scale their sustainability efforts within their organization and across the supply chain. 

“This second US base will expand and diversify our technology capabilities, allowing us to accelerate our impact and business reach with the addition of new infrastructure, resources, and connection to the vitality of the biotech talent growing in the Salt Lake City community,” says TM Narayan, Perfect Day’s Chief of Business Operations. “This move further solidifies our commitment to the region following the acquisition of our Enterprise Biology facility in 2020 and partnership with the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity last year.” 

“We are thrilled to have Perfect Day bring its mission to create more sustainable, environmentally friendly products to The Gateway and join our emerging life sciences community of businesses,” said Jenny Cushing, VP of Leasing for Vestar, the Arizona-based development company that owns The Gateway. “We are fortunate to partner with Mayor Erin Mendenhall to further her vision to nurture and grow the life sciences industry in Salt Lake City. As downtown’s vibrant destination for dining, entertainment, and community events, The Gateway is an enticing location for companies and their employees.”

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About Perfect Day, Inc. 

Founded in 2014 by bioengineers Ryan Pandya and Perumal Gandhi, Perfect Day is on a mission to create a kinder, greener tomorrow through the thoughtful use of biology. Through three business units across B2B ingredients, consumer brands, and enterprise biology, Perfect Day is working with partners around the world to recreate foods and goods we love in a way that systemically builds a climate-positive future.   

 The company’s flagship product, the world’s first precision fermentation protein, debuted in 2020. Instead of relying on cows, Perfect Day works with microflora to create proprietary animal-free cow whey protein. While delivering the same taste and texture as conventional cow whey protein, an ISO compliant, third-party reviewed life cycle assessment (LCA) found that Perfect Day’s whey protein reduces blue water consumption by up to 99 percent, greenhouse gas emissions by up to 97 percent, and non-renewable energy use by up to 60 percent, compared to conventional production methods. To learn more, visit perfectday.com or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. 

About The Gateway

The Gateway is a 1.4 million square foot lifestyle and entertainment destination in the heart of Downtown Salt Lake City, at the center of the newly established Biohive, Salt Lake City’s Life Science community. Owned and managed by Vestar, the property recently underwent a $100 million redevelopment— infusing retail and dining, entertainment, modern office space, arts and culture, a boutique hotel, and a full calendar of community-driven events. The Gateway is the epicenter for entertainment, art, and culture in downtown Salt Lake City with innovation sitting at the center of the unique and modern atmosphere. For more info, visit www.atthegateway.com.

About Vestar:

The leading privately held real estate company in the United States, Vestar specializes in the acquisition, management, and development of retail real estate, including entertainment-retail complexes, power and lifestyle centers, and neighborhood centers of varying size and scale that serve as community shopping destinations.  Founded in 1989, Vestar currently manages over 30 million square feet of space in 7 states throughout the western United States. For more information, please visit www.vestar.com