AstraZeneca Expands Near DC With 198 KSF Lease

Matan Cos.’ recently delivered buildings each feature leasable bays ranging from 5,845 to 13,148 square feet. Rendering courtesy of Matan Cos.

Global biopharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is expanding its presence in Gaithersburg, Md., with a 198,000-square-foot lease at a newly built Class A industrial and life science building, developed by owner Matan Cos. James Matan represented the owner in the lease transaction and Kevin Reap of CBRE represented AstraZeneca.

Matan Cos. developed the 44-acre campus—comprising two identical buildings—on a speculative basis. According to CommercialEdge data, the developer funded this project with a $74 million construction loan in 2021, provided by Wells Fargo Bank.

The life science and industrial campus directly fronts Interstate 270 between the Montgomery Village Avenue and Watkins Mill interchanges in Montgomery County. The 198,000-square-foot buildings feature additional retail pads along Route 355. The second building, located at 750 Progress Way, is still available for leasing.

Both buildings have 32-foot clear heights, 50-foot by 52-foot column spacing, 50 dock doors, 200-foot truck court and 367 parking spaces that include 12 electric vehicle charging stations.

JP Matan, director of leasing for Matan Cos., said in a prepared statement the decision by U.K.-based AstraZeneca to lease 700 Progress Way reinforces the property’s strategic location within the Montgomery County life science corridor and the flexibility of the buildings to accommodate everything from cGMP to distribution.

Last month, Matan Cos. announced a joint venture with Rockefeller Group to develop at $300 million, 5 million-square-foot industrial and logistics center in Suffolk, Va., in the Hampton Roads area. The first phase of the 540-acre Port 460 Logistics Center will have five buildings totaling 2.4 million square feet and is slated for completion in 2025.

A main research hub

The Montgomery County property is about 3 miles from AstraZeneca’s existing Gaithersburg campus at 1 Medimmune Way, which has about 1.3 million square feet of lab and office space and accommodates more than 3,500 employees.

AstraZeneca also has a biologics manufacturing facility in Frederick, Md., that has about 300 workers. The company is Montgomery County’s seventh-largest employer and Frederick County’s eighth-largest.

Gaithersburg is one of the main research and development hubs for AstraZeneca. The company also has U.S. locations in Wilmington, Del., and Waltham, Mass., and is planning another one in the Boston area.

AstraZeneca will be occupying 290 Binney St., a building with 570,000 square feet of laboratory space that is under construction in Cambridge, Mass., by BXP. Last month, BXP agreed to sell a 45 percent interest in 290 and 300 Binney St., which is being redeveloped for life science space as well, to Norges Bank Investment Management for $746 million.