Update: Boston Biotech Facility Lands $135M in Financing

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

830 Winter St.

King Street Properties has secured $135 million in financing for 830 and 828 Winter St., an existing 185,000-square-foot, Class A lab/biotech building and a soon-to-be-built lab/biotech facility in Waltham, Mass. HFF arranged the financing through Blackstone Mortgage Trust.

“This was a first-class laboratory facility in a prime suburban Boston location,” Greg LaBine, HFF’s managing director of its debt placement team, told Commercial Property Executive. “The proceeds will be used to refinance the existing building and construct the new building.”

The existing building at 830 Winter St., was originally built in 2001 as the flagship headquarters for Praecis Pharmaceuticals, and today is home to ImmunoGen, GlaxoSmithKline and the Histogenics Corporation.

The building is located off Route 95/Route 128 at exit 27, just 12 miles west of Boston. It’s also in close proximity to the new 1265 Main Street mixed-use development.   

The new property, which will be named 828 Winter St., will consist of a three-story, 144,910-square-foot, Class A lab/biotech building with a four-level parking garage. Construction began last October and it’s expected to be completed by next summer.

According to LaBine, King Street saw an opportunity to capitalize on the tight suburban lab market and expand its existing Waltham property to meet the growing demand and Blackstone shared their vision and provided a creative and flexible solution for lab construction financing.

 “Tight lab market conditions coupled with tremendous sponsorship with an impeccable track record made this a strong financing opportunity,” LaBine said. “Waltham has a well-recognized laboratory cluster that attracts both big pharma and early stage biotech firms.”