Fund Further Expands Emerging Growth Portfolio in the Top Life Sciences Market in the U.S.
BOSTON, Mass., July 6, 2022 — A fund sponsored by CBRE Investment Management has acquired a majority interest in 300 Third Street, a 132,000-square-foot, Class A life sciences building located in the Kendall Square/East Cambridge neighborhood of Boston, through a joint venture with a publicly traded REIT. The transaction marks the Fund’s second acquisition of a life sciences property in the area within the past three months and is aligned with the Fund’s strategy to expand its exposure in the rapidly growing life sciences sector.
Originally built in 2000, 300 Third Street is a six-story life sciences building comprised of both recently renovated office/lab spaces and street-level retail space housing an upscale sushi restaurant. The property features floor plates averaging 32,000 square feet, 12’8” ceiling heights, bicycle parking, shower facilities, 139 above-grade and subterranean parking spaces, electric vehicle charging stations, LED lighting, enhanced air filtration systems and substantial power capacity for elevator, loading and HVAC systems. The property is currently 100% leased to a leading pharmaceuticals firm and benefits from convenient access to the MBTA’s Red and Green lines providing seamless connectivity to the wider Boston area.
On behalf of the same fund, CBRE Investment Management recently took an equity stake in 100 Binney, a 432,931-square-foot, Class A life sciences building, also located in the Kendall Square/East Cambridge neighborhood, and 40 Thorndike, a Class A, 475,000-square-foot, 20-story office building development, also located in East Cambridge and slated for completion in 2023.
“This transaction offered an opportunity to expand our partnership with an experienced operator and increase the Fund’s exposure to sought-after life sciences assets in a market with strong growth and economic fundamentals. Life sciences remains a key focus for our investment strategy as the vital work of these firms still requires in-person collaboration, and we believe that our recent acquisitions in the Boston area will provide positive, long-term outcomes for our investors,” said Larissa Belova, Portfolio Manager for CBRE Investment Management.
Sondra Wenger, Head of Americas Commercial Operator Division for CBRE Investment Management, said: “The Cambridge cluster is considered the top life sciences market in the U.S. given its unique confluence of world-class talent with like-minded interests, walkability to amenities and workplaces, and an unrivaled innovation culture. By investing in multiple life sciences properties within this established cluster, we are creating a robust portfolio of well-located and amenitized assets that we believe will only continue to increase in value and utility for both current and future tenants and help to meet the high demand for quality lab spaces in the area.”
According to research from CBRE, Boston is the largest life sciences market in the U.S., and the Cambridge market has high demand with a lab vacancy rate of 0.5%, the lowest in the U.S. The Boston-Cambridge area is ranked the No. 1 market for life sciences talent, according to CBRE’s 2022 Life Sciences Research Talent Report. The low vacancy rates and strong concentration of talent and innovation are expected to drive continued high demand for lab spaces and life sciences growth in the area.
About CBRE Investment Management
CBRE Investment Management is a leading global real assets investment management firm with $146.8 billion in assets under management* as of March 31, 2022, operating in more than 30 offices and 20 countries around the world. Through its investor-operator culture, the firm seeks to deliver sustainable investment solutions across real assets categories, geographies, risk profiles and execution formats so that its clients, people and communities thrive. CBRE Investment Management is an independently operated affiliate of CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2021 revenue). CBRE has more than 105,000 employees (excluding Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE Investment Management harnesses CBRE’s data and market insights, investment sourcing and other resources for the benefit of its clients. For more information, please visit www.cbreim.com.
*Assets under management (AUM) refers to the fair market value of real assets-related investments with respect to which CBRE Investment Management provides, on a global basis, oversight, investment management services and other advice and which generally consist of investments in real assets; equity in funds and joint ventures; securities portfolios; operating companies and real assets-related loans. This AUM is intended principally to reflect the extent of CBRE Investment Management’s presence in the global real assets market, and its calculation of AUM may differ from the calculations of other asset managers and from its calculation of regulatory assets under management for purposes of certain regulatory filings.
The full content of this article is only available to paid subscribers. If you are an active subscriber, please log in. To subscribe, please click here: SUBSCRIBE
