A planned expansion of the Arsenal on the Charles complex is on hold as Alexandria Real Estate Equities negotiates with non-life science tenants for existing space/Image courtesy of SGA
Alexandria Real Estate Equities is in negotiations with non-life science tenants to occupy properties in Watertown and Andover as it attempts to navigate the lab space glut.
The nation’s largest lab developer announced that it signed letters of intent this month for a combined 242,408 square feet at 311 Arsenal St. and 3000 Minuteman Road, for “lower-cost alternative uses” such as advanced technology.
On Monday, Alexandria reported its first-quarter financials including funds from operations of $1.73 per share, down from $2.30 per share in the first quarter of 2025.
The 311 Arsenal St. property is part of the Arsenal on the Charles complex, which Alexandria purchased from AthenaHealth for $525.5 million in 2019. In 2021, as lab leasing was accelerating in Greater Boston and across the nation, the developer filed plans to build two additional lab buildings on the Watertown property.
In Andover, Alexandria acquired 3000 Minuteman Road in 2021 for $32 million. The 43-acre property contains an 88,000 square-foot office building previously occupied by Phillips Healthcare.
Alexandria sold another property within Minuteman Park, 60-100 Minuteman Road, to The Davis Companies in late 2024 for $67.3 million. Alexandria had planned to develop a biomanufacturing campus at the site.
If the leases are signed in Watertown and Andover, the properties could be placed back in operation without a redevelopment, Alexandria announced.
The Watertown and Andover properties are part of a 1.6 million square-foot construction pipeline that Alexandria executives are reevaluating to reduce spending, according to the quarterly report.
With many biotech companies hoarding cash amid declining venture capital investment, Alexandria continues to unload non-core properties. The Pasadena, California-based REIT has set a target of $2.9 billion in dispositions during 2026.
In October, Alexandria sold the Watertown Mall to Newton-based National Development after previously planning a redevelopment of a majority of the retail property.
The company also has dropped a planned lab conversion at 401 Park Drive in Boston’s Fenway, the building previously known as the Landmark Center.
The Boston suburban lab vacancy rate ended the first quarter at 28.3 percent, according to a CBRE report.
