NEW YORK CITY — Locally based developer The Georgetown Co. has signed leases with two tenants to its 200,000-square-foot life sciences project at 787 11th Ave. on Manhattan’s Far West Side. The property is now fully preleased. Healthcare provider Mount Sinai signed a long-term lease for 165,000 square feet, and scientist and designer Neri Oxman inked a deal to operate a 36,000-square-foot space. The property houses space for lab, office, research and biomedical uses.
NORTHBOROUGH, MASS. — A joint venture between Connecticut-based Wheelock Street Capital and Camber Development has purchased Sanofi Genzyme’s Northborough Global Operations Center, a 212,000-square-foot life sciences building in Northborough, located outside of Worcester. The sales price was $33 million. The property is situated on a 19.3-acre site and was fully leased at the time of sale. Coleman Benedict, Matthew Sherry, Ben Sayles, Michael Restivo and Corbin Stall of JLL represented the buyer in the deal. The seller was Chicago-based Capri EGM.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — JLL Income Property Trust has acquired 170 Park Avenue, a 147,000-square-foot life sciences building in the Northern New Jersey city of Florham Park. The sales price was approximately $47 million. The property is net leased on a long-term basis to biotechnology firm Celularity Inc. Jeffrey Dunne, Jeremy Neuer, Steve Bardsley, David Gavin, Gene Pride, Travis Langer, Zach McHale and Tom Sullivan of CBRE represented the undisclosed institutional seller. With this acquisition, JLL Income Property Trust now owns five life sciences properties totaling more than 450,000 square feet that are valued in excess of $215 million.
DURHAM, N.C. — Trinity Capital Advisors and SLI Capital have topped out a new Class A office project in downtown Durham called The Roxboro at Venable. The eight-story office and life sciences center is located within the mixed-use Venable Center at 380 East Pettigrew St. Duda|Paine Architects is the designer for the 210,000-square-foot project, which is expected to be opened by 2022. The Roxboro at Venable will feature tall floor-to-floor heights, built-in accommodation for lab infrastructure and dedicated back-up power. The property also will include touchless entry and elevator systems, air purification systems in elevators and open-air sky terraces on the two upper floors. The Roxboro previously was a warehouse for Venable Tobacco Co., a subsidiary of the Dibrell Brothers tobacco business of Danville, Va. Trinity Capital Advisors is a real estate development and investment firm with offices in Charlotte and Raleigh. SLI Capital is a Raleigh-based real estate investment firm.
PHILADELPHIA — Republic Properties Corp., a privately owned real estate investment and management firm, plans to build Ultra Labs at University City, a $190 million life sciences facility in Philadelphia. The property will stand 11 stories tall and comprise 185,000 square feet of advanced research and development space for cell and gene therapy users. Republic Properties entered into a 90-year ground lease last year with Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) at the site, which is located adjacent to SEPTA’s Powelton Rail Yard station along North 32nd Street. Additionally, Ultra Labs at University City will sit within an Opportunity Zone between Powelton and Market streets overlooking the Schuylkill Expressway. The site is within close proximity to life science clusters including The Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The production center will be designed to ensure compliance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) standards for pharmaceutical and cell production facilities, according to Republic Properties. The Washington, D.C.-based developer has tapped Maryland-based brokerage firm Scheer Partners to lease the property, which is slated for completion in less than 36 months. Republic Properties’ investment partner on the project is an entity …
The Raleigh-Durham commercial real estate market continues to be one of growth and perseverance despite the global pandemic. Its economy is rich with an array of industries, healthcare and university systems that support population growth and expansion. Commercial real estate is experiencing its own challenges and opportunities through this pandemic, including one of the most talked about asset classes, office. The sector is the subject of the big “pause” discussion as there’s uncertainty going forward. Despite the lack of commitment to many significant leases, the office market’s fundamentals have remained stable in Raleigh-Durham. Rates are holding steady with an average Class A rental rate of $29.59 per square foot. Vacancy and absorption are maintaining competitive levels, allowing market rates to hold somewhat steady. Over the last year, activity reflected these trends as many landlords negotiated short-term renewals without rate increases. If the leasing trend continues this year, renewals and space consolidation will possibly lead to a reduction in rental rates. One of the key driving forces of office product in Raleigh-Durham stems from the life sciences industry. The market is currently ranked No. 5 among life sciences markets in the United States, according to CBRE’s annual report. The life sciences …
BOSTON — Newmark has arranged the $1.5 billion recapitalization of 401 Park Drive and 201 Brookline Ave. in Boston’s Fenway submarket. The 1.5 million-square-foot campus sits on nearly nine acres. Concurrent with the financing transaction, Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. acquired a majority stake in the campus. The seller is a joint venture between institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives and Samuels & Associates. Boston-based Samuels will retain a minority interest in the campus and continue to operate, lease and lead development activities for the property in conjunction with the new majority owner. The asset at 401 Park Drive is an existing 973,145-square-foot office and retail tower. It is currently 93 percent occupied. The second property, 201 Brookline Ave., is a 510,116-square-foot laboratory and office tower that is currently under construction. It is 17 percent pre-leased with tenants expected to take occupancy in 2022. There is also potential for an additional phase of commercial development at the site. Located next to an MBTA Green Line station, the campus incorporates a recently created 1.1-acre park that provides direct access to new retailers Time Out Market and Trillium Brewing Co. The park also features an ice-skating rink in the winter. …
BOSTON — DivcoWest has topped off a 480,000-square-foot life sciences building at 250 Water St. within Cambridge Crossing, a 43-acre mixed-use development that is located at the intersection of the cities of Boston, Cambridge and Somerville. Global biopharmaceutical firm Bristol Myers Squibb has preleased 360,000 square feet at the building, which is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2022. Other life sciences users at Cambridge Crossing include Sanofi and Cerevel Therapeutics.
WATERTOWN, MASS. — Boston-based Berkeley Investments has purchased the historic Chase Mills building in the western Boston suburb of Watertown with plans to modernize the property’s utility systems and add life sciences space. Over the years, the 97,000-square-foot building, which is located at 64 Pleasant St. and currently houses the headquarters of architecture firm Sasaki, has also served as a paper factory and garment manufacturing plant. Sasaki sold the building, which it has owned and occupied since the 1950s, to Berkeley Investments for an undisclosed price.
BOSTON — A joint venture between affiliates of Magellan Development Group, RAS Development, Cypress Equity Investments and USAA Real Estate will develop a 194,000-square-foot life sciences facility and a 450-unit apartment building in the Somerville area of Boston. The development represents the first phase of the master plan for the revitalization of Union Square, a project that will ultimately span 2.4 million square feet of commercial and residential space. The project also includes the addition of an MBTA Green Line station. Daniel Kaufman, Frederic Wittmann and Brett Paulsrud of JLL arranged construction financing through Bank OZK for both the life sciences and the multifamily components of the project.
