BOSTON – Boston-based real estate developer Berkeley Investments and its partner, Singerman Real Estate, announced that three new life sciences and lab/R&D companies have signed leases totaling nearly 100,000SF to occupy space at Exchange 200, Malden’s largest life sciences and laboratory development.
With two of these growing, innovative companies focused on ground-breaking life sciences research and the third a global leader in advanced materials technologies, these leases add to the rapid life sciences and R&D market growth in Malden, one of greater Boston’s booming markets.
By signing a 53,000SF lease, Discovery is expanding its existing footprint in Malden. Discovery’s presence in the city began with the acquisition of In Vitro ADMET Laboratories (IVAL) in December 2021. With its sizable new lease signing at Exchange 200, Discovery will build highly advanced laboratories employing leading technologies. The company will offer pre-clinical, cell and gene therapy, and proteomics services out of its new Exchange 200 location to complement its AllCells® division’s LeukoLab™ donor facility in Quincy and a second LeukoLab™ facility opening in Boston early 2023.
“This expansion in Malden provides us with an additional avenue to meet the rapidly growing demand for our high-touch, client-focused services and to ensure we can continue to meet our clients’ needs along any timeline and on any scale,” says Glenn Bilawsky, CEO of Discovery. “We’re excited to continue to expand our company amid the center of the booming biotechnology and life sciences community in the greater Boston area.”
In addition to Discovery, Outer Biosciences will occupy a 15,000SF laboratory suite that Berkeley and Singerman built-out on a “speculative” basis, one of three such suites constructed at the property intended to accommodate growing laboratory companies who need to move quickly into space that’s already pre-built.
Exchange 200 will also be the new home and laboratory for a pioneering, advanced materials company relocating from Cambridge and expanding into nearly 22,000SF at the building, using the space to further advance their revolutionary technology while accommodating the company’s increase in staff and customer growth.
The first move-ins are scheduled to take place at the end of 2022, and Discovery is expected to open its new laboratory in late 2023. Additional leases are expected to be finalized in the coming months as more companies focus their attention on Malden Center, which has fostered a welcoming business environment for life sciences and R&D companies who value the city’s appealing, transit-oriented location just five miles north of Boston and a coveted MassBio BioReady® Platinum-rating.
Malden Mayor Gary Christenson and his administration have long been big proponents of attracting lab and life sciences companies to Malden touting the city’s public transportation infrastructure and a talent pool that offers companies “some of the most valuable intellectual capital in Massachusetts.” Christenson says, “We’re making solid investments and huge strides to create jobs and economic opportunity for Malden residents while encouraging scientific and R&D progress that benefits not only our community, but people across the country and around the world. And we’re just getting started as more companies like Discovery Life Sciences and Outer Biosciences recognize the unprecedented potential that Malden offers to help these companies successfully achieve their missions.”
Dan McGrath, Berkeley’s Senior Vice President and Director of Asset Management, shares Mayor Christenson’s enthusiasm. “We set out to redevelop Exchange 200 as a modern innovation hub catering to the region’s life sciences, lab and R&D companies, and these three leases demonstrate that the building, and the city of Malden, are proving to be an appealing destination for some of the region’s most innovative companies. We couldn’t be more excited about the new tenants, led by Discovery, who are leading the way in positioning this building as one of the premier life sciences and lab developments in Massachusetts. Our convenient transit access, numerous amenities, compelling economics, and a dynamic urban environment drew these innovative and diverse tenants to Exchange 200. And we’re confident the building will continue to attract more life sciences tenants as demand for space continues to expand beyond Boston and Cambridge into dynamic markets like Malden.”
Leasing for the property is led by the team of Molly Heath, Peter Bekarian, Chris Decembrele and Maggie Dore at JLL, who represented Berkeley and Singerman in these three lease transactions. Molly Heath, Senior Managing Director of JLL Boston, adds, “The most exciting thing about Exchange 200 is it meets the needs of a wide variety of tenants. It offers both spec lab suites so young companies can conserve capital for their team and R&D. And it offers shell space on lower floors that can be built out for more specialized programmatic requirements. That flexibility has been key to our lease up.”
On the tenant side, Discovery Life Sciences was represented by a team from Colliers, with Robin Zellmer leading the corporate relationship and Evan Gallagher and Caitlin Mahoney leading the local efforts. Outer Biosciences was represented by Bob Richards and Grey Gettleman at Cushman & Wakefield.
