PASADENA, Calif., Sept. 17, 2019 — Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), an urban office REIT and the first and longest-tenured owner, operator and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, technology and agtech campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, today announced that it was selected by the City of Seattle to develop an approximately 800,000 RSF amenity-rich, mixed-use innovation campus. The future development project, which holds the promise of addressing some of society’s most pressing challenges, will be built on the last large, undeveloped site, totaling nearly 3 acres, in Seattle’s Lake Union submarket. Alexandria’s urban development plan supports its mission to enable the world’s most innovative organizations to cure disease. Reflecting the company’s holistic approach to making a meaningful and lasting impact on the communities in which it develops and operates, its community-centric vision prioritizes sustainable building practices and contributes substantial philanthropic support, including $5 million toward initiatives to address homelessness in Seattle.
“We envision our Mercer Mega Block development as a mission-critical campus that can drive the cross-pollination of life science and technology, spur world-class innovations to improve the human condition and significantly enhance the surrounding neighborhood,” said Joel S. Marcus, executive chairman and founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. and Alexandria Venture Investments. “We are humbled and honored to have been chosen by the City of Seattle for this transformative, first-of-its-kind project, which holds the potential to solidify Seattle as a global center for life science innovation. In recent years, the city has emerged as a leader in immunology, cell therapy and the intersection of science and technology—areas that are generating trailblazing innovations. We are extremely proud of our leadership in creating a world-class commercial life science cluster in Seattle, and we are committed to delivering a dynamic and collaborative campus that will bring in significant human and strategic investment capital, and serial life science entrepreneurs, all of which are necessary to ensure the future success of this vital cluster.”
Alexandria has strong confidence in the Seattle market, where space for growth is tight and vacancy for Class A space in Lake Union remains below 3%. Today, Alexandria’s Seattle asset base consists of nearly 1.5 million RSF of office/laboratory space that is home to a high-quality and diverse range of tenants, including public life science companies such as Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation, bluebird bio, Inc. and Juno Therapeutics, Inc., a Celgene company; private life science companies such as Dendreon Pharmaceuticals LLC, Kineta, Inc. and Sana Biotechnology, Inc.; and institutional entities such as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Infectious Disease Research Institute and the University of Washington. Alexandria has value-creation development opportunities aggregating nearly 850,000 RSF, which, along with the future Mercer Mega Block development, will strategically increase its Seattle asset base to more than 3 million RSF to further strengthen its ability to provide Seattle’s most groundbreaking companies with collaborative, amenity-rich environments to support their efforts to develop novel scientific and technological breakthroughs.
“Our plan for the Mercer Mega Block campus equally focuses on fostering innovation to advance human health and improve the quality of people’s lives and addressing some of the Seattle community’s most critical issues by bringing an outstanding mix of public benefits and retail amenities to the Lake Union area,” said John Cox, senior vice president and regional market director of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. “The distinctive, highly amenitized and sustainable campus provides a tremendous opportunity for us to build upon Seattle’s legacy of scientific innovation and to create a new destination that will reinvigorate the neighborhood and promote economic diversity while it also deepens Alexandria’s development pipeline.”
With its sweeping views of downtown Seattle and Lake Union and its inspiring, highly sustainable design, Alexandria’s premier multi-use campus will consist of approximately 800,000 RSF across two state-of-the-art, 13-story office/laboratory towers that will bring together scientists, technologists and the neighborhood and become a significant platform for growing innovation. The campus plan incorporates a number of thoughtfully curated community benefits and retail offerings to activate the neighborhood, including a 30,000 RSF community center; on-site affordable housing; a chef-driven, farm-to-table restaurant; complementary ground-floor retail; and a newly improved pedestrian-only walkway on 8th Avenue surrounded by open and activated public spaces with outdoor seating to create a lively gathering space in Seattle’s urban core.
About Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE), an S&P 500® urban office REIT, is the first and longest-tenured owner, operator and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, technology and agtech campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, with a total market capitalization of $22.2 billion as of June 30, 2019, and an asset base in North America of 34.3 million SF. The asset base in North America includes 23.6 million RSF of operating properties; 1.5 million RSF undergoing construction with projected initial occupancy in 2019, which is 90% leased; and 9.2 million SF of near-term, intermediate-term and future development and redevelopment projects. Founded in 1994, Alexandria pioneered this niche and has since established a significant market presence in key locations, including Greater Boston, San Francisco, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland and Research Triangle. Alexandria has a longstanding and proven track record of developing Class A properties clustered in urban life science, technology and agtech campuses that provide our innovative tenants with highly dynamic and collaborative environments that enhance their ability to successfully recruit and retain world-class talent and inspire productivity, efficiency, creativity and success. Alexandria also provides strategic capital to transformative life science, technology and agtech companies through our venture capital arm. We believe our unique business model and diligent underwriting ensure a high-quality and diverse tenant base that results in higher occupancy levels, longer lease terms, higher rental income, higher returns and greater long-term asset value.
