CV Properties JV Lands $278M for Boston Life Science Project

Boynton Gateway. Image courtesy of JLL

CV Properties, in a joint venture with Cannon Hill Capital Partners and L&B Realty Advisors, has obtained $278 million for the construction of Boynton Gateway, a future nine-story, 334,000-square-foot life science facility in Somerville, Mass. Working on behalf of the borrower, JLL secured the floating-rate loan from Brookfield Asset Management.

The developers broke ground on the project in April, on a vacant site that was previously occupied by auto mechanic garages and parking facilities. Completion is expected in the third quarter of 2024.

READ ALSO: Why the Life Sciences Boom Is Not Likely to Bust

Boynton Gateway is taking shape at the corner of Columbia Street and Webster Avenue within Somerville’s Boynton Yards Overlay District, near the 1.8 million-square-foot Boynton Yards master-planned development. After its completion, the building will feature Class A, LEED Platinum-certified office, research and development space, labs and 2,500 square feet of open space, as well as public art.

The development site is adjacent to Kendall Square, within walking distance of many of the nation’s top research universities and hospitals. The location also provides quick access to many of the city’s transportation nodes.

Managing Director Anthony Cutone and Senior Director Henry Schaffer led the JLL Capital Markets team that represented the borrower.

Boston’s life science boom

Greater Boston remains one of the nations’ biggest and most lucrative markets for life science and office construction and investment, due to its large concentration of research universities and biotechnology companies. The entire metropolitan area has a total inventory of 13 million square feet of lab space with another 2 million under construction, according to a second quarter 2022 report from Newmark. The metro has seen $2.3 billion in office sales in the first half of 2022, boasting the only market in the country with a vacancy rate below 10 percent as of July, CommercialEdge data shows.

Other recent greater Somerville life science undertakings include BioMed Realty’s $514 million construction financing of the 485,000-square-foot Assembly Innovation Park research tower, as well as the development of 100 Chestnut, a four-story project in the city’s Brickbottom District.