PASADENA, CA-Alexandra Real Estate Equities Inc., a self-managed, investment grade REIT focusing on real estate for the life sciences industry, has completed 57 lease transactions, totaling 1.2-million rentable square feet, during the fourth quarter of 2013. This leasing activity brings the REIT's yearly total for leasing transactions to 3.5 million rentable square feet.

The REIT capitalized on activity in the Greater Boston area, the San Francisco Bay area, San Diego and New York City, serving high-profile clients like Celgene Corporation, Google Inc., Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California. One of the more notable lease transactions completed was with Quest Diagnostics Inc. for a 10-year lease extension of a 248,000-square-foot space.

In addition to leases, Alexandria Real Estate Equities sold its final portion of land in the Mission Bay life science cluster to Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. for $55.2 million. Alexandria will develop the site into a medical facility. Earlier in the year, the company leased 100,000-square-feet on the same site to Illumina Inc.

The notable leasing activity illustrates strong demand in the life sciences industry for class-A assets. According to Alexandria, these facilities serve as a site where researchers can develop “high-impact, cost-effective products that will save lives, manage disease, and reduce the economic burden of disease on society.”