Listed REIT Alexandria Real Estate Equities is reportedly close to buying MIT’s Technology Square life sciences complex for $600 million. The Boston Globe reported yesterday that the REIT won the bidding for the seven-building, 1 million sq. ft. Cambridge complex. MIT recently developed four of the buildings and renovated much of the original complex.
According to Cantor Fitzgerald equity analyst Philip Martin, Alexandria (NYSE: ARE) reportedly beat out a field of nearly two-dozen other interested buyers. However, Martin doesn’t assume that ARE won the bidding war with the highest offer.
“In our opinion, they might not have been the highest bidder but may have won the offer, at least in part, due to their reputation and operating expertise in the high barrier to entry life sciences real estate sector,” wrote Martin in his report today.
If ALE does indeed secure the property, Martin believes that the acquisition could be “accretive.” His reasoning: “The asset is a dominant life sciences complex that should be attractive to tenants longer term given Cambridge’s growing life sciences market, the relationship with MIT and the close proximity to both MIT and Harvard.”