(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)
CAMBRIDGE, MA- Three months after paying $600 million to acquire an interest in Cambridge's seven-building Technology Square, Alexandria Real Estate Equities has picked up another biotech trophy. The Beal Cos. LLP sold Cambridge's 184,577-sf Life Science Square to Alexandria for more than $95 million.
The Cambridge office, research and development building, located on seven acres in Kendall Square, was the second asset acquired by Alexandria from Beal. In March the buyer paid $72 million for 300 Third St., a 128,000-sf life sciences and office building, also in Cambridge. Alexandria also owns two other Bay State life science properties in Bedford and Waltham.
Robert Griffin, with Cushman & Wakefield's Capital Markets Group, represented the seller and procured the buyer in the transaction. He tells GlobeSt.com that between 15 and 20 potential buyers, including REITS, private equity firms, foreign interests and at least one residential developer, made bids on the Kendall Square property but it was Alexandria's top offer and its prior relationship with Beal that sealed the deal for the buyer. "It was very competitive," says Griffin, noting that the strong demand for lab space in Cambridge helped fuel the bidding.
The property is currently 92.8% leased to 13 tenants, including both emerging life science companies and established firms such as Bayer and Orange Plc.
In an unrelated transaction, the Beal Cos. also sold a 116-unit Walden Park Apartments to Invesco Real Estate. The complex sold for $55.8 million, according to a source who wished to remain unnamed.
Partner Bruce Beal tells GlobeSt.com that the transactions were simply a well-timed divesture of assets in a strong market and not an indication the company is pulling out of the Cambridge where it has maintained investments for nearly 100 years. "We owned both of these properties for over 30 years and given the heat of the market we decided to sell," Beal says.
Griffin says some of the factors driving interest in Cambridge's life science product are also having an effect on apartments in that city, which accounts for the 10 to 12 buyers who turned in bids on Walden Park Apartments.
"Cambridge is very hot right now," Griffin says, noting that lab rents have moved up 33% in Cambridge in the last quarter alone. "For all the reasons people want to work in Cambridge, they want to live in Cambridge so apartment properties are hot too."
Neither Invesco nor Alexandria returned calls from GlobeSt.com seeking comment on their acquisitions.
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