News
BIOMED'S BET ON SPEC
June 7, 2011
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| Small- to mid-size VC-backed users account for 75% of Cambridge/ Boston life science leasing, so BioMed Realty Trust senior director Bill Kane (above, with Arrowstreet principal Jim Bachelor) took a gamble when developing on spec the 60k SF life science building above at 325 Vassar St in Cambridge near MIT. Rather than customize a build-to-suit research building or market a stripped-down core and shell space, they found a new middle road, which they've coined as the Universal Flex Lab. The space is fit out with lab benches, fume hoods, sinks, and generic plug 'n play MEP systems. Bill—with Jim?s design help—gambled on a product that he thought would work. ?They ate it up,? says Bill. Within one year of starting the project, half of the space is occupied, and Bill tells us he's in final negotiations to lease the rest. |
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| For Epizyme, a VC-backed company focusing on a new class of cancer drugs with MIT ties, 325 Vassar was the perfect answer, says chief business officer Jason Rhodes. They're growing from four people three years ago to more than 40 by year end. They wanted a three-year lease term, not the more traditional five or 10 years, and a reasonable rent. Jason says they also needed to be able to walk to the MIT Nobel laureate on their science advisory board. They wanted new space with lots of windows, all on one floor, that they could move into quickly. Four months from LOI to occupancy worked for them. After a one-year space search, Jason says this building was an easy choice. |
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| Bill, giving a NAIOP organized tour last week of a still unfinished portion of the building, says the space delivered to tenants can be modified with screwdrivers rather than demolition crews. The lab equipment is moveable and the office walls are de-mountable. BioMed invested in improvements that go beyond the core and shell space because VC-backed users in the Cambridge life science market, combined with Boston life science companies, account for 34% of BioMed's annualized base rents. The Universal Flex Lab solution sounds simple, but at the start there were plenty of questions: How much should BioMed invest? How should it program the building? Bill says that from an underwriting perspective, it was tricky. Ultimately, BioMed decided, ?spec is not a four letter word,? especially in this lab market, and they kicked off the project. |
