Healthpeak proposed a 4.6 million-square-foot development in Cambridge's Alewife Quadrangle neighborhood. Image courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects

Houston-based developer Hines acquired a lab development site now being touted for multifamily housing in Cambridge’s Alewife Quadrangle neighborhood for $12 million.

Hines already has a stake in the West Cambridge neighborhood, as residential partner with developer Healthpeak on a planned 4.6 million square-foot proposed development off Concord Avenue.

An entity affiliated with Denver-based Healthpeak provided $10.2 million in acquisition financing, according to a Middlesex County mortgage.

The 33,432 square-foot site at 180 Fawcett St. site was acquired by Boston-based Cabot, Cabot & Forbes in 2020 for $9.6 million, and approved for a 92,000 square-foot lab building. It is currently occupied by a 22,000 square-foot industrial building.

But the lab market slump and Cambridge’s rezoning of the Alewife Quadrangle neighborhood points to opportunities for multifamily development, including buildings up to 12 stories.

“The recently adopted zoning demonstrates the city’s commitment to increasing housing production and reducing barriers to new supply, creating a distinct opportunity for the incoming owner to capitalize on at 180 Fawcett St.,” Cushman & Wakefield noted in a sales brochure.

Healthpeak Properties owns approximately 36 acres in the neighborhood following an acquisition spree of primarily industrial properties in 2021 and 2022. It has branded the redevelopment as “Cambridge Point.”