Billion-Dollar Kendall Square Deal Breaks Records

Chicago-based, investment management firm Harrison Street has entered a ground lease with MIT for the three-building, 677K SF Osborn Triangle life science complex near Kendall Square. The deal surpassed $1B, or just over $1,600/SF, setting a neighborhood portfolio price record, according to sources familiar with the deal. “Osborn Triangle is a one-of-a-kind complex serving as a global hub for the life science and innovation communities, supported by high barriers to entry and [a] blue-chip tenant base,” Harrison Street Managing Director Mark Burkemper said in a prepared statement.

The Osborn Triangle portfolio consists of 610 Main St., 1 Portland St. and 700 Main St. and is fully leased to seven tenants, including anchor tenants Pfizer, Novartis and LabCentral. Harrison Street led a partnership that includes Boston-based Bulfinch Cos. on the deal. MIT will also retain a minority interest in the transaction. Harrison Street and Bulfinch declined to confirm the pricing of the deal to Bisnow. “A lot of investors and companies alike look at East Cambridge as the most stable and innovative square miles in the world,” Avison Young Senior Research Analyst Tucker White said. “These record-shattering sale prices only reaffirm that.” (Source: Harrison Street Website and Biznow Website, 17 May, 2019)