Dealmaker: JLL Arranges $750M for Life Sciences Campus, Boston Mixed Use
JLL Capital Markets, Chicago, arranged $165 million in refinancing for a San Diego life sciences campus and $585 million for mixed-use development in Boston.
JLL arranged a $165 million refinancing for Genesis Science Center, a four-building, life sciences R&D campus totaling 252,000 square feet in San Diego. JLL worked on behalf of Phase 3 Real Estate Partners Inc. and Bain Capital Real Estate to secure the three-year loan through a national bank.
Genesis Science Center is on 13 acres at 5510, 5550, 5580 and 5590 Morehouse Dr. in the heart of the Sorrento Mesa biotech cluster. The fully leased campus is home to a variety of emerging and established life sciences and biotech firms and offers tenants a full amenity package, including an outdoor eatery, fitness center and a conference center that can accommodate 100-plus people.
The JLL Capital Markets team representing the borrower was led by Senior Managing Director Tim Wright, Managing Director Todd Sugimoto and Associate Daniel Pinkus.
“San Diego continues to cement itself as a top three life sciences market in the U.S. with Sorrento Mesa as the leading local submarket,” Wright said.
JLL also arranged $585 million in construction financing for a mixed-use project consisting of 580,905 square feet of life sciences, retail and multi-housing space in Boston.
JLL worked on behalf of the borrower, a joint venture among King Street Properties, Brookfield and Mugar Enterprises, to secure the four-year, floating-rate loan through an institutional debt fund. The JLL Capital Markets team representing the borrower was led by Managing Director Greg LaBine and Director Amy Lousararian.
Once completed, Allston LabWorks will consist of 534,000 square feet of lab space; 20,000 square feet of retail space; 35 multi-housing units, 26% of which will be affordable; as well as a 12,000-square-foot public plaza with an additional 5,000-square-foot landscaped open space and 668 garage parking spaces.
The project, located on 4.27 acres at 250, 280 and 305 Western Ave., is adjacent to Harvard University’s 350-acre Allston campus, home to the newly opened John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
LaBine said given its proximity to Harvard’s investment in the neighborhood, the property is well-positioned to capture the neighborhood’s growing life science demand. He said over the past two decades, ongoing public and private investments have transformed the neighborhood into a vibrant, sought-after area with thriving commercial and academic demand drivers nearby.
The Greater Boston Lab market is home to 19 of the 20 largest biotech and pharmaceutical companies. In addition, the market receives 30% of the total U.S. life sciences funding and life sciences job growth is outpacing overall job growth four to one.
