Moderna Plans New Cambridge HQ

Moderna has tapped Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. to create its new corporate headquarters at the REITs Alexandria Center at One Kendall Square campus in Cambridge, Mass. The biotech company, developer of one of the three COVID-19 vaccines, will make its new home at 325 Binney St., a 462,000-square-foot laboratory and office project that has already gotten underway.

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Formerly the site of Metropolitan Pipe & Supply Co., 325 Binney St. had been part of Alexandria’s developable land portfolio before Moderna came into the picture. Moderna, however, managed to grab the space from a hungry crowd in a high-demand market.

325 Binney St. Image courtesy of Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc.

“We had substantially up-zoned, I think, about two-times from what was the as-of-right square footage,” Joel Marcus, executive chairman of Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc., said during the company’s third quarter earnings call on October 20, 2020. “So, we’re moving full steam ahead. We have a handful of existing tenants who are looking for expansion space.”

A vision of architecture firm NBBJ, 325 Binney will be distinguished as one of the most sustainable life science facilities in Cambridge, designed to meet LEED Platinum Core & Shell, LEED Zero Energy and Fitwel certifications and to operate as a net-zero energy commercial laboratory. In addition to cutting-edge laboratory space and high-end office accommodations space, 325 Binney will feature gathering spaces, walking paths and other open outdoor areas conceived to encourage collaboration and to assist Moderna’s efforts to attract and retain top-tier talent.

Out in the cold

With Moderna snapping up 325 Binney to accommodate growth as it furthers its pipeline of mRNA medicines, those companies hoping to lease space in the building for their own expansion purposes are essentially left without options.

“Vacancy is practically non-existent in Cambridge,” according to a second quarter 2021 lab market report by Lincoln Property Co. “With vacancies as low as they are and supply years away, many tenants have chosen to migrate and expand in other areas of the metro. Despite the migration, many firms are willing to pay steep rents to be in Cambridge, evidenced by the numerous triple-digit rents signed over the past several quarters.” Neither Alexandria nor Moderna have yet to disclose the terms of their lease agreement at 325 Binney.

325 Binney St. Image courtesy of Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc.

Moderna, which has been based in Cambridge since its founding in 2010, relied on JLL for guidance in its search for a new, state-of-the-art, sustainable headquarters. John Moriarty & Associates is serving as general contractor for 325 Binney. The project is on schedule to reach completion in 2023, and Moderna will relocate from its current facility less than a half-mile away at 200 Technology Square to its new home in a phased process.