MARLBOROUGH, MASS. — Pharmaceutical giant Moderna Inc. has acquired a newly constructed biomanufacturing facility totaling 140,000 square feet in the Boston suburb of Marlborough for $91 million. Oxford Properties Group sold the speculative property, which is located at 149 Hayes Memorial Drive.
Oxford originally acquired the vacant, 24-acre site in 2021 and developed it into a two-story, purpose-built biomanufacturing facility. The development features a clear height of 36 feet, four loading docks and multiple freight elevators.
The facility is scheduled to open in late 2024 after undergoing substantial build-out for Moderna, which plans to generate more than 200 new jobs in Marlborough by 2026.
“While initially developed with a plan to lease the asset and hold for the long term, Moderna’s unsolicited offer to acquire the property allowed us to expedite our business plan execution,” says Chad Remis, Oxford’s North America executive vice president.
Oxford’s biomanufacturing portfolio in North America totals 1.4 million square feet with an additional development pipeline of roughly 600,000 square feet. Its largest concentration of facilities is in the Boston region.
The Boston metro area ended 2022 with $6.7 billion in life sciences venture capital funding, according to Oxford.
“Boston continues to be an unparalleled market in terms of concentration of talent, capital and research innovations, and we will continue to deliver high-quality real estate infrastructure to support Boston’s growth and position as the global leader in life sciences,” says Christie Chen, director of investments with Oxford.
A pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, Moderna is based in Cambridge, Mass. The company broke ground on a new 462,000-square-foot research and development facility in Cambridge in fall 2021. Earlier that year, Moderna also unveiled plans to expand its biomanufacturing campus in Norwood, Mass., to a total footprint of 650,000 square feet.
— Kristin Harlow