BioMed Realty is already a major force in the U.K. life sciences property game, with AstraZeneca and Illumina among the companies to occupy its sites in and around Cambridge. Now, the Blackstone company is set to invest a further £850 million ($1.2 billion) to double the size of its portfolio.
The investment will enable BioMed to acquire and set up two plots. The larger of the two sites is a 27-acre plot of land at Granta Park that BioMed has acquired from The Welding Institute (TWI).
BioMed bought Granta Park for £127 million in 2012, giving it control of 472,200 square feet of space and a further 138,400 square feet of development and expansion rights. Life sciences companies including AstraZeneca, Gilead, Illumina, Pfizer and PPD now have a presence at the site. Since striking the original deal, BioMed has expanded the site through deals with TWI.
The latest agreement represents a significant expansion of the 120-acre site. Granta Park is already home to 30 companies that employ around 3,700 people on the site. The plan to expand the site is yet to receive planning consent.
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BioMed’s second deal sees it buy a site in Cambridge from Abstract Securities. Abstract, working with the University of Cambridge’s Peterhouse College, put together the 15-acre site by buying two plots of land. Having acquired the land, Abstract set out plans (PDF) for five buildings with more than 500,000 square feet of space. The proposal is still subject to planning consent.
Cambridge, like its namesake in Massachusetts, is a hot spot for life sciences. All the new space that became available in 2020 was snapped up (PDF), with developments being fully let as soon as the building work was completed. Rents at one site jumped 15% in a year.