BOSTON — Basis Investment Group, a New York City-based commercial real estate debt and equity investment platform, has purchased an equity stake in Phase III of Innovation Square, a $416 million life sciences development in Boston’s Seaport District. The company purchased a minority stake of an undisclosed value from the developer, Related Beal, the Boston office of Related Cos.
Located on a 1.8-acre site at 22 Drydock St., Phase III of Innovation Square will comprise a seven-story life sciences building totaling 340,000 square feet. Related Beal is leasing the site from the City of Boston for a 99-year term.
The property’s life sciences space is fully preleased to Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company based in Boston. The company also fully occupies Phase II of Innovation Square, a four-story life sciences building located at 6 Tide St. in Boston.
In addition to laboratories and offices for Vertex, 22 Drydock will include dedicated lab space for Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute, a nonprofit that provides hands-on training for careers in labs to veterans and neighborhood high school students.
Related Beal says the project is the first LEED Platinum and zero-net-carbon life sciences building in Boston. A net zero carbon building is a highly efficient building that achieves a zero balance of carbon emissions emitted during operations, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.
In addition to life sciences space, the facility will feature a small restaurant/café on the ground floor, 144 parking spaces across two below-grade parking levels, a fitness center, rooftop deck and outdoor public seating. The construction timeline for Phase III of Innovation Square was not disclosed.
Basis Investment purchased its stake in the development using its equity platform, BIG Equity, in partnership with the Boston Real Estate Inclusion Fund. With this capital infusion, Basis Investment will serve as Related Beal’s minority/women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) capital partner on the project. The partnership rounds out MWBE representation across all levels of the design-build team, including ownership, design, construction and ongoing operations.
“Our work in tandem with Related Beal’s 22 Drydock team furthers our reputation for bringing diverse capital to large-scale and minority-led deals, adding to more than $1.3 billion that Basis has invested and loaned to MWBE borrowers, developers and property owners since its inception [in 2009],” says Tammy Jones, CEO and founder of Basis Investment Group.
Basis Investment plans to syndicate several million dollars of its equity commitment to local accredited minority and women investors who will become co-investors in the development.
— John Nelson