Clarion Obtains $94M for Boston Life Science Property

JLL arranged the refinancing through a Europe-based financial services company.

Exterior shot of LINX, a life science building in Watertown, Mass.
The two-story LINX came online in 2018. Image courtesy of JLL

Clarion Partners has received a $94 million, five-year refinancing loan through Société Générale for LINX, a 185,015-square-foot life science building in Watertown, Mass. JLL Capital Markets arranged the deal.

The loan replaces a 10-year, $86 million note from Metropolitan Life that Clarion used to acquire the Class A asset in August 2018, according to information from CommercialEdge.

LINX is a two-story property that’s fully leased to three tenants: C4 Therapeutics, Addgene and Tectonic Therapeutic. Amenities include a grab-and-go café, indoor bike storage for 78 bicycles, a 24/7 locker room with showers and a bocce court, as well as 1 acre of green space.


READ ALSO: Q&A With JLL’s Schoneman on Life Science Investment Drivers


The building came online in 2018 on a 10-acre campus, being surrounded by walking and biking paths. The property also features a two-story, 195-space parking garage with 12 electric car charging stations.

LINX is at 490 Arsenal Way in Watertown’s East End life science cluster. It’s close to Arsenal Yards, a mixed-use lifestyle redevelopment of the former Arsenal Mall, and adjacent to the Target-anchored Watertown Mall. The location also has convenient access to downtown Boston, Logan Airport and the surrounding suburbs via the Massachusetts Turnpike/Interstate 90.

JLL Executive Managing Director Riaz Cassum, Managing Director Amy Lousararian and Vice President Robyn King led the Debt Advisory team representing Clarion. The Société Générale team was led by Managing Director Tim Hallock.

Brighter in Boston

Most major U.S. life science markets have been seeing a worsening supply-demand imbalance over the past year, with nationwide lab availability rising to 30 percent and rents falling by almost 9 percent, according to a JLL report. Among the bright spots, however, was metro Boston, where demand is about even with what was seen in 2019.

Only a few weeks ago, a joint venture of AEW Capital Management, Redgate and Optimum Asset Management secured a $150 million refinancing for Bedford Labs, a 288,000-square-foot, newly converted life science facility in Bedford, Mass. That deal was also arranged by JLL Capital Markets.

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