Greatland, Rockwood Land Financing for Boston-Area Life Science Project

Riverside Labs. Image courtesy of Gensler

Greatland Realty Partners and Rockwood Capital are moving forward with their Riverside Labs project in Weston, Mass., after securing financing. Working on behalf of the joint venture, Newmark procured the lender, The Royal Bank of Canada, which will provide up to $150 million for the project.

Greatland acquired the former Liberty Mutual campus, a two-building office property with 245,000 square feet on 16 acres, in December 2020. The following spring, the firm was able to rezone the site to allow for life science uses and additional density. As a result, the new ownership began a phased renovation on the existing construction along with the development of a new facility.

Weston’s upcoming campus

Renamed as Riverside Labs, the future life science campus will total 340,000 square feet across three buildings. Greatland and Rockwood are conducting a full renovation of the 120,000-square-foot 9 Riverside while doing a lab conversion of the 90,000-square-foot 20 Riverside. The joint venture’s addition to the campus will be a 130,000-square-foot facility dubbed 15 Riverside.

The project will also include a new parking garage and a 10,000-square-foot expansion to 9 Riverside that will serve as gathering space and food hall. Riverside Labs’ first building is expected to be ready for tenant occupancy by next summer.

The property is 15 miles away from Boston and Cambridge. The location provides easy access to the nearby interstates 90 and 95, the MBTA Green Line’s Riverside station and the MBTA commuter rail’s Auburndale station.

Feeding the life science boom in Boston

For Greatland, Riverside Labs is only one of several Boston-area life science projects. The developer also has three lab/office projects totaling roughly 640,000 square feet in Lexington, Mass., one of which being still under construction.

It’s not only Greatland taking advantage of the ongoing life science boom in the Boston area. Earlier this month, Breakthrough Properties completed a 263,000-square-foot research and development facility in Boston that already has its first tenant. The metro’s pipeline also includes a 334,000-square-foot life science development in Somerville, Mass., that recently was the recipient of a $278 million construction loan.