Image courtesy of DivcoWest

The saga of Parcel Q2 at DivcoWest’s mega-development on the fringes of East Cambridge is continuing with a second use change proposed for the site.

Originally pitched as a hotel site, the lot adjacent to the MBTA’s brand-new Lechmere Green Line station was re-permitted for commercial office use in October 2019.

Nearly three years later, with the COVID-19 pandemic having ravaged the office sector and thrown the future of office work in doubt, DivcoWest has asked Cambridge planning officials for permission to re-role the property, also known as 151 Morgan Ave., for lab uses.

“Work from home may be the new norm for office workers, but the inability of researchers to ‘lab from home’ will ensure robust on-site populations at Parcel Q2 to support retail and activate open space,” DivcoWest Managing Director for Development Mark Johnson wrote in a letter to the Cambridge Planning Board.

Under plans submitted for design review, the Q2 building would have slightly less square feet, at 165,595, than its special permit allows. That would be broken up into 163,794 square feet of office/lab space and 1,801 ground-floor retail. The building would also come with two floors of underground parking totaling 150 vehicle spaces. The building will target LEED Gold v.4 accreditation.

The building would join 1.55 million square feet of lab space already permitted and under construction on the former rail yard and glassworks. Tenants include Bristol Myers Squibb, which consolidated its research operations at 250 Water St., Philips North America and Cerevel Therapeutics which leased all of the space at 22 Jacobs St., while French drugmaker Sanofi is occupying the 350 and 450 Water St. buildings.