Barings Acquires One Patriots Park
Fully Leased Suburban Boston Class A Life Science Asset
Acquisition Executes on Firm’s Growth in Specialized Asset Class
Barings, one of the world’s largest diversified real estate investment managers, announced today its $132 Million acquisition of One Patriots Park, a nearly 144,000 square foot Class A life science asset in the Boston suburb of Bedford, Massachusetts, from privately held real estate investment firm Jumbo Capital Incorporated. Newmark facilitated the transaction.
A two-story building set on 14.4 acres, One Patriots Park is fully leased to four cutting-edge life science tenants and contains high-quality, modern buildouts including Biosafety Level 2 and 3 laboratories. Barings intends to execute on value enhancements through the renovation of remaining first generation lab space.
“This investment is a fantastic addition to our platform and illustrates Barings’ commitment to sourcing diversified opportunities in specialized asset classes,” said Kevin Miller, Barings Head of Real Estate Acquisitions, Eastern US. “This acquisition represents our core real estate investment strategy and we’re excited about future opportunities to generate value through additional conversion to lab and mark-to-market leasing opportunities.”
Just 20 miles northwest of Boston with connectivity to Boston and Cambridge, the premier life sciences market in the country, One Patriots Park is centrally located within the Route 128 life sciences cluster, widely considered to be Boston’s leading suburban life sciences node and supported by strong market fundamentals, VC funding, innovation, and demographics. Additionally, the asset is adjacent to the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway, a 10-mile bicycle path to Cambridge, and offers shuttle service to the MBTA Red Line’s Alewife Station.
"We are thrilled to add One Patriots Park to our portfolio," said Deb Schwartz, Portfolio Manager on the Real Estate Equity platform. "Barings continues to target high-quality, well-leased life science assets in primary STEM and innovation markets. One Patriots Park is located in a thriving metro Boston life sciences market, and its LEED Gold certification reinforces Barings' commitment to ESG."
Powered by dozens of colleges and universities, a highly educated and talented workforce, a world-renowned medical sector and diversified corporate base, Boston is an ever-growing center of innovation, technology, and life sciences with 19 of the 20 largest publicly traded Biotech/Pharma organizations occupying space in Greater Boston. Demand for lab space is extremely strong across metro Boston, driven by the expansion of established companies and an extremely low lab vacancy rate. Many tenants with a Boston/Cambridge presence look to this suburban cluster to expand their footprint, and Barings has strong conviction this asset will perform well given Boston’s extremely low vacancy and an increasing demand for space as the life sciences industry continues to seek suburban growth.
“One Patriots Park was completely redeveloped in 2019 with supplemental infrastructure added by the seller,” said Samantha Hallowell, managing director, Newmark’s Boston Capital Markets Group. “These upgrades enable the asset to support a full range of state-of-the-art laboratory requirements for its in-place tenancy while ensuring its future adaptability.”
Newmark Co-Head of US Capital Markets Robert Griffin, Executive Vice Chairman Edward Maher and Vice Chairman Matthew Pullen along with Hallowell of the firm’s Boston Capital Markets Group brokered the sale. Newmark Senior Financial Analyst William Sleeper provided financial analysis support.
About Barings
Barings is a $371+ billion* global investment manager sourcing differentiated opportunities and building long-term portfolios across public and private fixed income, real estate, and specialist equity markets. With investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, the firm, a subsidiary of MassMutual, aims to serve its clients, communities and employees, and is committed to sustainable practices and responsible investment. Learn more at www.barings.com.
*Assets under management as of March 31, 2022
About Newmark
Newmark Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMRK), together with its subsidiaries (“Newmark”), is a world leader in commercial real estate, seamlessly powering every phase of the property life cycle. Newmark’s comprehensive suite of services and products is uniquely tailored to each client, from owners to occupiers, investors to founders, and startups to blue-chip companies. Combining the platform’s global reach with market intelligence in both established and emerging property markets, Newmark provides superior service to clients across the industry spectrum. Newmark generated revenues of nearly $3.1 billion for the twelve months ending March 31, 2022. Newmark’s company-owned offices, together with its business partners, operate from approximately 170 offices with 6,300 professionals around the world. To learn more, visit nmrk.com or follow @newmark.