BXP Sells $746M Stake in Life Science Assets

A rendering of the completed 300 Binney St. Image courtesy of HGA Architects

BXP has agreed to sell a 45 percent interest in two life science properties in Cambridge, Mass., to Norges Bank Investment Management.

The assets, located at 290 and 300 Binney St., include a combined 810,000 square feet and were valued at $1.66 billion or $2,050 per square foot. Upon closing, NBIM’s investment will total $746.4 million.

Following the sale, BXP will hold a 55 percent ownership stake in the properties, and will continue to provide development, property management and brokerage services, as part of a new joint venture with the buyer.

Components of Kendall Square

Both properties are respectively under construction and redevelopment at BXP’s Kendall Square, an 11-building mixed-use district that includes more than 2.6 million square feet of office, life science, hospitality and multifamily spaces.

To be fully occupied by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, 290 Binney will comprise 570,000 square feet of laboratory space. The 16-story building was designed by Pickard Chilton, and Stantec is the architect of record. The facility is expected to open in April 2026, and will include six levels of parking.

Originally built in 2013, the facility at 300 Binney St. is currently undergoing a complete redevelopment, designed by HGA Architects, into 240,000 square feet of laboratory and life science space. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Broad Institute will occupy the space in its entirety upon its expected completion in January of 2025.

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Both developments rise in the center of Cambridge’s Kendall Square district, home to laboratories of Moderna, Amgen, Merck and Thermo Fisher Scientific, among others. MIT’s main campus is roughly half a mile to the south, while Harvard is within 2 miles. Mass General’s flagship campus is 1 mile to the east, across the Charles River.

Due to its cluster of research universities, hospitals and access to STEM-related talent, Boston leads the nation for office development. According to a recent CommercialEdge report, the metro had nearly 14.5 million square feet of space under construction as of September, more than double the pipeline of Manhattan, and dwarfing Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago.

Several Boston projects currently underway are valued at more than $1 billion, including the Fenway Center, a mixed-use campus that will include 1 million square feet of office and lab space at full build-out. The Winthrop Center, slated to encompass 1.8 million square feet of office, alongside retail and residential space, is valued at $1.4 billion.