Deal Tracker: Biopharm Firm Moving HQ to Waltham

266 Second Ave. in Waltham, MA will be the new home for fledgling biopharmaceutical company ImmuneXcite.

WALTHAM, MA—The robust biotech-biopharmaceutical market in Greater Boston continues to churn out deals. ImmuneXcite has signed a more than 10,000-square-foot lease for newly converted lab space at 266 Second Ave. here. The Lexington, MA-based biopharmaceutical company that is focused on developing transformative immuno-oncology products, signed a lease for 10,323 square feet at the property owned by an affiliate of Rockwood Capital LLC . John Edwards , executive chairman of ImmuneXcite, tells Globest.com the company will relocate its headquarters and lab operations from Lexington (3 Forbes Road) to the Waltham building. The company, which reported in late March that it secured $8.6 million in Series A-1 financing, currently has 10 employees. The company expects to take occupancy of its new headquarters later this year. 266 Second Ave. is a two-story 95,808-squqre-foot building that is part of a two-building complex. Transwestern RBJ represented both tenant and landlord in the lease deal. The brokerage firm’s Jon Varholak , Rob Byrne and Perry Beal represented the building ownership, while Bob Richards represented ImmuneXcite in the transaction. Building ownership, in conjunction with property manager, Griffith Properties LLC , recently completed what it terms was a “significant capital campaign” to convert the building’s second floor from office to laboratory space to meet demand in Greater Boston’s life sciences market. The ownership is in the process of building out an 11,000-square-foot speculative suite for delivery in third-quarter 2016. NetBio occupies the building’s first-floor lab space. “Rockwood and Griffith made a tremendous strategic move in converting 266 Second Ave. to full laboratory use,” states Varholak. “The building offers a high-quality suburban alternative for companies seeking lab space in the increasingly tight Cambridge market, while still being in close proximity to the city. It’s an excellent location for a dynamic, young life sciences company like ImmuneXcite, which is currently located in Lexington.” Waltham had 998,000 square feet of laboratory space with a 5.4% vacancy rate at the close of first-quarter 2016. For the same period, Greater Boston’s suburbs had 5.6 million square feet of laboratory space with a 10.4% vacancy rate, according to Transwestern