Photo courtesy of The Engine

The home of a “tough tech” accelerator and venture fund in Cambridge’s Kendall Square was acquired by life science developer BioMed Realty.

The 750 Main St. lease transaction is valued at $361.5 million and runs through 2099, according to the Boston Business Journal which first reported the deal.

The Engine includes wet labs, fabrication space and machine shops designed for startups in emerging industries ranging from robotics to clean energy. The accelerator was spun out of MIT in 2016 and focuses on technologies that address issues such as climate change.

The accelerator is affiliated with The Engine Ventures, a Cambridge venture capital fund headquartered at 750 Main St. that has backed cleantech startups such as cement manufacturer Sublime Systems. Since 2016, the firm has raised more than $1 billion including a $398 million round this year for its Fund III.

The 220,000-square-foot property at 750 Main St. originally completed in 1910 is fully occupied by MIT and two retail tenants.

Prior to the acquisition, BioMed owned 5.2 million square feet of lab and office buildings in Greater Boston, part of a 17 million-square-foot portfolio in the U.S. and United Kingdom.

The acquisition contrasts with rival Alexandria Real Estate Equities’ moves to shed properties outside of core life science clusters, including large lab development and conversion sites in South Boston and Newton and lab complexes in Cambridge and Waltham.

BioMed Buys Kendall Square Accelerator HQ for $361M

by Steve Adams time to read: 1 min
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