2 Life Sciences Companies Moving Out Of Cambridge To Grow
Two life sciences companies are leaving Cambridge to expand, signing leases to relocate their headquarters to larger spaces in nearby Boston and Watertown.
Werewolf Therapeutics has signed a lease for 26K SF of lab and office space at 200 Talcott Ave., part of an Alexandria Real Estate Equities campus, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The company said it would relocate its headquarters from its current 10K SF facility near Harvard Square next May. Werewolf, a publicly traded company, specializes in cancer therapies.
In moving to Watertown, Werewolf is paying a slight per-square-foot discount to its current rent of $88.05 per SF at 1030 Massachusetts Ave. with Longfellow Real Estate Partners, as described in an SEC filing. Werewolf will pay $77 per SF once its lease for half of a building on Alexandria’s campus commences in March 2022.
It is unclear if Werewolf will depart its Massachusetts Avenue space. A representative for Alexandria confirmed the lease, and a Werewolf Therapeutics source declined to comment Friday.
Cushman & Wakefield and CBRE were named in the Werewolf lease agreement as brokers, but it was unclear which brokerage represented each party. A Cushman & Wakefield representative declined to comment Friday and a CBRE representative didn’t respond.
Another publicly traded Cambridge biopharmaceutical company, Praxis Precision Medicines, which is developing central nervous system disorder therapies, has subleased 25K SF from CBRE at 99 High St. in Boston, according to an SEC filing. Praxis currently subleases 9K SF of office space from Highland Capital Partners at MIT-owned One Broadway in Kendall Square. That lease is set to expire in December.
The company will pay approximately $52 per SF in Boston, less than the approximately $90 per SF it’s paying to sublease Highland’s Cambridge office. CBRE in early 2020 announced it would depart its High Street office and consolidate its operations at its 33 Arch St. space. Representatives for both CBRE and Praxis didn't respond to requests for comment.
The moves come amid a revival of office activity in the Boston and Cambridge region, with office and lab space being scooped up as employers ramp up return-to-office plans. BioMed Realty weeks ago let a 57K SF tenant walk without a termination fee and immediately filled its space on Binney Street in Kendall Square. Boston has already seen two 100K SF-plus office deals this year, and experts in April said office leasing, vacancy and negative absorption are nearing or have already reached their nadir.
