Houston Life Science Campus Changes Hands

8800 Technology Forest Drive. Image courtesy of NAI Partners

As the life sciences sector in the Houston market heats up with several new construction projects, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals has sold its five-building, 260,950-square-foot campus in The Woodlands, Texas, for an undisclosed amount.

The buyer was not identified but NAI Partners, which arranged the sale for Lexicon, said the disposition was the largest sale in the life sciences sector in the greater Houston area this year.

Located at 8800 Technology Forest Drive, the main building is a three-story, 128,400-square-foot, Class A office property with laboratory space. Other buildings on the site include a one-story flex property with lab and office space and two special-use facilities. Lexicon, a biopharmaceutical company, will be relocating its corporate headquarters to a new location in The Woodlands, a suburb about 30 miles north of downtown Houston. The address was not released.

NAI Partners’ Dan Boyles and Jon Silberman represented Lexicon in the disposition.

Growing Life Sciences Hub

Boyles said in a prepared statement they initially thought the property might garner more interest as a redevelopment opportunity but received many inquiries from potential laboratory, office and biological manufacturing users. He said it further underscored Houston’s growing appeal as a life sciences hub.

Several major life sciences and innovation developments are in the works throughout the greater Houston area, including TMC3, a construction project at the Texas Medical Center for a new 30-acre biomedical research campus. Plans for TMC3 include 250,000 square feet of core labs and amenities comprised of 112,000 square feet of shared research facilities and 138,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, according to the Colliers International’s Mid-Year 2020 Healthcare report for Houston.

The Colliers report notes TMC3 will help “elevate Houston in the same strata as some of the other major Life Sciences Hubs in the United States.” The report also notes Texas A&M University plans to build the five-acre, $540 million Texas A&M Innovation Plaza which will include the redevelopment of an 18-story office building acquired by Texas A&M in 2017 for $145 million.

The Horizon Tower, a 30-story, 485,000-square-foot life sciences building developed by Medistar Corp., will also be part of the Texas A&M Innovation Plaza. Other life sciences projects in the region include Hines and 2ML Real Estate Interests’ Levit Green, a 52-acre mixed-use project that will feature life sciences lab and research facilities.