Image courtesy of Alexandria Real Estate Equities
Alexandria Real Estate Equities is betting on future demand for lab space in East Cambridge, submitting a zoning petition that would add 250,000 square feet to its Technology Square campus.
The Pasadena, California-based life science REIT is seeking approval from the Cambridge City Council and Planning Board for a zoning map amendment and transfer of development rights.
The additional density in Technology Square is tied to a proposal to convert its 161 First St. lab building into 31 units of affordable housing in a partnership with Boston-based Beacon Communities.
The 40,000 square-foot brick-and-beam lab building was originally developed in 1907 by the Ashton Valve Company. Alexandria acquired the property in 2005 for $10.6 million, and attracted leases from biotechs including Sedo, Genocea Biosciences and the Moderna headquarters. Moderna’s headquarters relocated to 200 Technology Square in 2013, before moving to its new 325 Binney St. headquarters developed by Alexandria in 2024.
The housing conversion is proposed under Cambridge’s affordable housing overlay, and requires a special permit from the Planning Board.
The additional 250,000 square feet of lab development rights is proposed on a site at the corner of Galileo Galilei Way and Main Street, which would be designated as the Technology Square Transfer Receiving District.
Public hearings are scheduled tonight by the Planning Board and Oct. 6 by the City Council’s Ordinance Committee.
Alexandria’s 1.2 million square-foot Technology Square campus comprises seven existing buildings, and was 75 percent occupied at the midyear mark, according to a quarterly financial report.
It’s unclear how soon Alexandria would opt to exercise new development rights in Technology Square. Company representatives discussed building additions or reconstructing portions of existing buildings to meet tenant needs, according to a memo from the Cambridge Community Development department.
Despite the region’s historic lab space glut, Kendall Square’s life science cluster continues to attract growth. Three of the region’s four largest projects are under construction and preleased in East Cambridge: Takeda’s new research and development facility at 585 Kendall St., Biogen’s new headquarters at MITIMco’s Kendall Common and Astrazeneca’s R&D center at BXP’s 290 Binney St.
At the end of the second quarter, East Cambridge’s nearly 12 million square-foot lab market had a 17.5 percent vacancy rate and 24.2 percent availability rate, according to a research report by brokerage Cresa. Average asking rents still topped the region at $105 per square foot.
Image courtesy of Cambridge Community Development Department
