Staff photo by Steve Adams
The real estate industry’s largest life science developer is looking for more development and acquisition opportunities in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities already has partnered with one local developer – Samuels & Assoc. – on lab projects at the property formerly known as the Landmark Center.
Now, Alexandria executives say they are ready to expand their bet on the neighborhood as a major life science cluster.
“There are other frontiers for us to conquer, such as the Fenway where we believe there’s going to be an incredible rent growth and appreciation as well,” Alexandria Co-CEO Peter Moglia said this week in a conference call to discuss the Pasadena, California-based REIT’s first-quarter earnings. “So we need to get the cash to make those accretive investments, and we pick carefully, but strategically.”
Alexandria shelled out $1.5 billion last year for an ownership share of Samuels & Assoc.’s 401 Park Drive property, formerly known as the Landmark Center. Alexandria and Samuels are planning another 550,000-square-foot lab tower on a corner of the property.
Other well-capitalized developers are seeking to tap into the Fenway’s life science growth, as biotechs seek expansion across the river from Cambridge’s Kendall Square.QHQ Inc. leased 64,231 square feet this month to Cambridge-based Strand Therapeutics at 20 Overland St., while Related Beal landed a major tenant for its One Kenmore redevelopment last fall in Gritstone Bio, which leased 75,000 square feet.
The Boston Red Sox ownership and WS Development, along with the D’Angelo family which owns the surrounding parcels, are seeking approval for 2 million square feet of development on 5 acres surrounding Fenway Park. The proposal includes over 1.6 million square feet of office and research space, including a 265-foot-tall research tower at 73 Brookline Ave.
Alexandria on Tuesday reported first-quarter revenues of $615.1 million, up 28.2 percent from the same period in 2021, and a loss of $151.7 million. Funds from operations were $2.05 per share, up from $1.91 in 2021.
