Boston-Area Life Science Project Gets $193M

100 Chestnut. Image courtesy of Colliers

North River Leerink, a life science and healthcare real estate-focused joint venture between North River Co. and Leerink Development, has received a $192.5 million loan from an affiliate of Square Mile Capital Management to develop 100 Chestnut, a four-story life science project in the Brickbottom District of Somerville, Mass. Colliers secured the financing on behalf of the borrower.

For Square Mile Capital, providing the construction loan for 100 Chestnut illustrates the firm’s current real estate debt investment priorities, Principal David Greenburg said in prepared remarks. Greenburg added the firm plans to seek more opportunities in the life science sector and particularly in the Boston market, where they expect future demand for high-quality space to continue to be strong.

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The 208,616-square-foot project is the first life science facility to break ground within NRL’s new mixed-use campus for discovery and innovation in the Brickbottom District. The 4.5-acre development site at 100 Chestnut St. runs parallel to 150 and 200 Inner Belt Road, a 7.9-acre assemblage owned by a joint venture partnership between NRL and Wheelock Street Capital.

That parcel includes a fully occupied 191,089-square-foot lab office and fine art storage building located on the north side of the property as well as an approximately 3.4-acre site to the south, within the Inner Belt District. The proximity of the two development sites gives NRL the ability to scale up a life science node of critical mass.

North River Co. has owned 200 Inner Belt Road since 2013. In 2017, the firm recapitalized the property and added North Colony Asset Management as a joint venture partner. Four years later, the partnership completed a $160 million recapitalization and added Wheelock to the ownership group.

An upcoming life science facility

Construction on 100 Chestnut started in the fourth quarter of 2021 and delivery is expected in summer 2023. Designed by Gensler, the LEED Platinum-certified facility is set to feature 200,164 square feet of Class A lab and office space, as well as ground-floor retail, on-site amenity space and two levels of below-grade parking.

The purpose-built project was designed around green spaces for community gathering and events, premium food and beverage vendors and public art installations. The building will have 60,000-square-foot floorplates and column-free zones to accommodate a variety of specialty uses. Future phases will add more lab space as needed.

The property is adjacent to the newly developed East Somerville Green Line T Station and community path and less than a half-mile from Cambridge’s Kendall Square and Cambridge Crossing, which is the epicenter of Greater Boston’s life science industry. Nearby tenants include Finch Therapeutics, Flagship Pioneering, Bristol Myers Squibb, Sanofi and Thrive Bioscience. A new tree-lined community path connects the Mystic and Charles rivers and provides an easy commute to Somerville’s life science hub.

The Colliers Capital Markets team arranging the financing was led by Jeff Black, executive vice president, partner & co-head of the firm’s Boston office, together with Co-Chairman Kevin Phelan and Vice Presidents Sean Burke and Bryan Koop. Black said, in a prepared statement, that 100 Chestnut is well positioned to catalyze the region’s next great ecosystem as the NRL team executes its master plan.