Davis and Boston Development Group Secure Two Full Floor Lease Agreements totaling close to 120,000 sf at Premier Life Sciences Property in Watertown Square

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Davis and Boston Development Group Secure Two Full Floor Lease Agreements totaling close to 120,000 sf at Premier Life Sciences Property in Watertown Square

BOSTON, October 3, 2024 – The Davis Companies (Davis) and Boston Development Group (BDG) today announced that they have entered into lease agreements with life sciences firms LifeMine Therapeutics and a new stealth mode biotech (NewCo) at 66 Galen Street in Watertown, MA, a purpose-built Class A life science building owned in a joint venture between Davis and BDG. The new tenants will occupy more than half of the leasable space in 66 Galen.

LifeMine, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering Top-Down Drug Discovery™, a bold innovative approach that leverages evolutionary insights from fungi to unearth next-generation precision medicines, will fully occupy the 56,456 RSF fourth floor. The stealth-mode, NewCo well-funded by elite life-science venture firms will occupy the third floor, comprised of 61,189 square feet. Both companies operate under the leadership of transformational biotech pioneer and serial life science entrepreneur Greg Verdine, Ph.D.

The 225K square-foot, LEED Gold certified, Class A purpose-built life science building is designed with market leading infrastructure and quality, featuring a hotel style lobby and cafe, rooftop gathering space with kitchen facilities and commanding views, multiple private outdoor terraces for tenant use, integral garage parking and floor to ceiling window walls, providing generous views and natural light throughout the building. Located in Watertown Square, the building is ideally situated within Watertown’s growing innovation and life sciences hub, with convenient access to a wide array of public transportation options, as well as the Mass Pike, ensuring that tenant companies have access to the region’s expanding talent pool, enabling them to scale and grow on campus.

“66 Galen provides state-of-the-art lab space, superior amenities, and proximity to other major life science clusters in the region, giving tenants an unmatched opportunity to scale their businesses,” said Jon Needham, Senior Vice President at Davis. “The decision to move the operations of two life sciences firms to the same building is a powerful affirmation of 66 Galen’s infrastructure and architectural excellence. We’re confident that they are exactly the type of tenants that will thrive on this growing campus.”

Located on the Charles River within Watertown Square, this location offers tenants panoramic views of Boston, easily visible from the building’s shared rooftop patio and adjoining entertainment space. Tenants also have access to Watertown’s bustling retail and restaurant hub as well as numerous local amenities such as bike paths along the Charles River.

40 percent of the 66 Galen site is dedicated to open green space. The building features abundant indoor greenery and curated landscaping in an open-concept design that promotes optimal air circulation throughout common spaces. Designed with smart building systems, the campus is powered by 25,000 square feet of rooftop solar panels, with energy efficient lighting, air purification, and smart thermal control technology.

The strategic decision to move both LifeMine and the stealth NewCo under the same roof is expected to foster ideas and accelerate the pace of innovation. The proximity to the Greater Boston life science cluster will also support talent recruitment efforts.

“We are delighted to partner with Davis and BDG,” said Greg Verdine, Ph.D., Co-founder and CEO of LifeMine Therapeutics, and Co-founder of the stealth NewCo. “The property they’ve conceived and constructed at 66 Galen is welcoming, beautiful, and highly functional. Both of our teams fell in love with this distinctive, differentiated facility. We are eager to make it the new home for both of our companies”.

The building features 14-plus-foot floor-to-floor heights on tenant floors, 20-foot heights in the first-floor lobby and 22-foot height in the mechanical penthouse.

Duncan Gratton, Connor Barnes and Joe Pearce of Cushman & Wakefield represented 66 Galen as the landlord’s leasing agents. Evan Gallagher and John Carroll of Colliers represented the tenants. For more information on 66 Galen or to submit a lease inquiry, please visit: https://66galen.com/

Amid lab space glut, a big lease at last

October 4, 2024 | The Boston Globe | Jon Chesto

The recently finished life science building in Watertown has landed two tenants

It took longer than expected, but The Davis Companies’ big bet on Watertown Square is paying off with the region’s largest lease deal for newly built lab space so far this year.

Davis and its partner Boston Development Group just inked a deal with serial biotech entrepreneur Greg Verdine that would bring two of Verdine’s startups into nearly 120,000 square feet at 66 Galen St. in Watertown. That’s more than half of the leasable space in Davis’ recently-finished 224,000-square-foot building across the Charles River from the square.

The lease deal is particularly notable given the glut of new lab properties in the area, at a time when demand has cooled off. Lab vacancy rates in the region have soared during the past two years as a flood of new lab buildings and office-to-lab conversions hit the market. Until this deal for 66 Galen, no leases for more than 100,000 square feet for new lab space have been signed yet in 2024, according to data from real estate firm CBRE.

Now, at 66 Galen, Verdine’s LifeMine Therapeutics will move into the fourth floor next August, while a second, still-unnamed biotech will occupy the third floor next October. Davis and BDG are still searching for tenants to fill the remaining space on the first two floors. BDG also has permits to put up a second lab building next door.

Duncan Gilkey, a senior vice president at Davis, said the Galen Street site is well situated given its proximity to the Mass. Turnpike, and the landlord will provide private shuttles to the Red Line in Harvard Square and the Boston Landing commuter rail station in Brighton. Gilkey said prospective tenants also like the fact that there are so many small businesses within walking distance, on both sides of the Charles. There’s already a booming life science corridor along Arsenal Street in Watertown’s East End, near the Cambridge line, but this is the largest lab building to go up in recent years in or near Watertown Square.

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Biotech Firms Lease More Than Half the Space at 66 Galen in Watertown

October 7, 2024 | connectcre.com

The Davis Companies and Boston Development Group (BDG) have entered into lease agreements with life sciences firms LifeMine Therapeutics and a new stealth mode biotech (NewCo) at 66 Galen St., a purpose-built Class A life science building in Watertown, MA. The new tenants will occupy more than half the property’s leasable space.

LifeMine, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering Top-Down Drug Discovery, will fully occupy the 56,456-square-foot fourth floor. The stealth-mode NewCo will occupy the 61,189-square-foot third floor.

“The decision to move the operations of two life sciences firms to the same building is a powerful affirmation of 66 Galen’s infrastructure and architectural excellence,” said Jon Needham, SVP at Davis. “We’re confident that they are exactly the type of tenants that will thrive on this growing campus.”

Duncan Gratton, Connor Barnes and Joe Pearce of Cushman & Wakefield represented 66 Galen as the landlord’s leasing agents. Colliers’ Evan Gallagher and John Carroll represented the tenants.

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Two Biotechs lease half of big Watertown development

October 7, 2024 | bankerandtradesman.com

A speculative life science development completed in June landed its first two leases committing to more than half of the 225,000-square-foot building outside Watertown Square.

LifeMine Therapeutics will occupy the fourth floor of the 66 Galen St. development, while an undisclosed biotech startup leased the entire third floor. Both companies are led by biotech researcher and investor Greg Verdine.

Newton-based Boston Development Group acquired the 5-acre former car dealership property in 2019. The Davis Cos. joined the development team in mid-2021, and ground was broken on the first building in 2021. Citizens Bank provided nearly $175 million in financing.

LifeMine received $175 million in series C venture capital funding in 2022.

“Both of our teams fell in love with this distinctive, differentiated facility,” Verdine said in a statement.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Duncan Gratton, Connor Barnes and Joe Pearce represent ownership in leasing. Colliers’ Evan Gallagher and John Carroll represented the tenants.

Watertown’s Arsenal Street corridor has attracted the bulk of lab leasing activity in recent years, including Boylston Properties’ Arsenal Yards and Alexandria Real Estate Equities’ Arsenal on the Charles projects. In one of the largest previous suburban lab transactions of the year, Treeline Biosciences expanded from 22,000 to 45,000 square feet at 500 Arsenal St.

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This Week’s Boston Deal Sheet: Davis Lands 2 Lab Leases Totaling 120K SF

October 7, 2024 | connectcre.com

The Davis Cos. and Boston Development Group secured two leases totaling roughly 120K SF for a new life sciences development in Watertown.

Two companies co-founded by investor Greg Verdine will occupy roughly 120K SF at 66 Galen St., the developers announced Friday. LifeMine signed for 56K SF to fully occupy the fourth floor, and an unnamed biotech company signed a 61K SF lease to occupy part of the third floor.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Duncan Gratton, Connor Barnes and Joe Pearce represented Davis and BDG. Colliers’ Evan Gallagher and John Carroll represented the tenants.

“66 Galen provides state-of-the-art lab space, superior amenities, and proximity to other major life science clusters in the region, giving tenants an unmatched opportunity to scale their businesses,” Davis Senior Vice President Jon Needham said in a statement. “The decision to move the operations of two life sciences firms to the same building is a powerful affirmation of 66 Galen’s infrastructure and architectural excellence.”

Boston Development Group in 2019 acquired the property, which was home to a car dealership at the time, and The Davis Cos. entered in 2021 as the development partner. Citizens Bank provided nearly $175M in financing for the project, Banker & Tradesman reported.

The leases could be a positive sign for a market in which a wave of speculative life sciences projects has met slow demand, leading the region’s vacancy rate to soar.

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