Alexandria Sells More Buildings In Cambridge, Waltham For $306M

Alexandria Real Estate Equities ended the year by offloading two more Boston-area life sciences properties, bringing its total sales in the region last year to more than $1B. 

The life sciences giant sold a property in Cambridge and one in Waltham for a combined $306M on Dec. 22 to Phase 3 Real Estate Partners, according to public records. The properties are at 640 Memorial Drive in Cambridge, fully leased by Sanofi, and 100 Beaver St. in Waltham, Banker & Tradesman first reported.

Alexandria Executive Chairman Joel Marcus said in an email to Bisnow that the REIT would comment on the sales on its Jan. 30 earnings call. Phase 3 didn't respond to request for comment. 

Last year, Alexandria sold over $1.5B in properties nationwide and paused some planned developments as the life sciences market continued to slow, Bisnow previously reported. Across the Boston market, total vacancy reached 21.2% at the end of 2023, marking a massive jump from 9.9% at the beginning of the year, according to JLL. 

In June, Alexandria sold five separate life sciences properties in Cambridge and Waltham to Alloy Properties for $365M, and it sold assets in Newton and the Fenway area for over $320M combined. Last month, Alexandria sold two South Boston industrial sites to Oliver Street Capital and Bain Capital for $87M. 

However, the firm is still active in the Boston market.

In December, Alexandria secured a full-building lease at another Waltham property. Danish drug company Novo Nordisk signed a 166K SF lease at 60 Sylvan Road, a project under construction and expected to be delivered in 2025.

Alexandria is also working on a master plan for the Watertown Mall that was approved in November and includes 682K SF of lab, 104K SF of residential and 215K SF of retail space, Watertown News reported.

Phase 3 owns several life sciences properties in the Greater Boston area, including a lab conversion project on the top floors of 55 Summer St. in Boston