$150M refinancing secured for Boston-area life sciences building

BOSTON, Sept 9, 2024 – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it arranged a $150 million refinancing for Bedford Labs, a 288,000-square-foot, newly converted, Class A life sciences facility in Bedford, Massachusetts.

JLL worked on behalf of the borrower, a joint venture between AEW Capital Management, Redgate, and Optimum Asset Management, to secure the loan from an affiliate of Apollo Global Management.

Recently repositioned from a single-tenant office building into a state-of-the-art life sciences/R&D facility, Bedford Labs is now one of the premier lab facilities in Boston’s northern submarket. Bedford Labs is fully leased to Sarepta Therapeutics, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company that focuses on rare genetic diseases, under a long-term agreement. In addition to the existing building, the site also allows for an additional 300,000 square feet of development, which can accommodate further expansion needs of Sarepta and/or other market tenants.

Located on 52 acres at 100 Crosby Drive, the property is approximately 20 miles from downtown Boston and has convenient access to Route 3 and Interstate 95. Bedford has emerged as one of the region’s fastest growing life sciences clusters and is home to leading life sciences tenants, including MilliporeSigma, Ultragenyx, ThermoFisher and Homology.

According to JLL’s 2024 Life Sciences Property report it appears the cycle of softening lab demand has moderated and U.S. demand has increased since the fall of 2023, up 6.3% across the board in the first quarter of 2024. Most of this uptick in demand is concentrated in the top three markets, which includes Greater Boston.

The JLL Capital Markets team representing the borrower was led by Senior Managing Directors Brett Paulsrud and Tom Sullivan and Director Mike Shepard.

“Although the life sciences market continues to face various challenges, debt capital remains available for top-tier borrowers with quality assets,” stated Paulsrud “The AEW, Redgate and Optimum team has demonstrated their clear understanding of this niche market sector, which is exemplified by their positive track record at Bedford Labs.”

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

For more news, videos and research resources, please visit JLL’s newsroom.

For over 40 years, AEW Capital Management, L.P. (AEW) has provided real estate investment management services to investors worldwide. As one of the world’s largest real estate investment advisors, AEW and its affiliates manage $84.4 billion in private real estate equity, debt and listed securities across North America, Europe and Asia (as of June 30, 2024). Grounded in research and experienced in the complexities of the real estate and capital markets, AEW actively manages portfolios in both the public and private property markets and across the risk/return spectrum. AEW and its affiliates have offices in Boston, Los Angeles, Denver, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo, as well as additional offices in eight European cities. For more information, please visit www.aew.com.

As of June 30, 2024. AEW includes (i) AEW Capital Management, L.P. and its subsidiaries and (ii) affiliated company AEW Europe SA and its subsidiaries. AEW Europe SA and AEW Capital Management, L.P. are commonly owned by Natixis Investment Managers and operate independently from each other. Total AEW AUM of $84.4 billion includes $38.9 billion in assets managed by AEW Europe SA and its affiliates, $4.9 billion in regulatory assets under management of AEW Capital Management, L.P., and $40.6 billion in assets for which AEW Capital Management, L.P. and its affiliates provide (i) investment management services to a fund or other vehicle that is not primarily investing in securities (e.g., real estate), (ii) non-discretionary investment advisory services (e.g., model portfolios) or (iii) fund management services that do not include providing investment advice.

Redgate is passionate about creating great places to live and work that energize growth, inspire collaboration and cultivate authentic communities. Active in New England, the Mid-Atlantic and North Carolina, its team has thrived on solving complex real estate challenges since its founding in 2010. Through customized owners' representation services, Redgate helps corporations, institutions and investors mitigate risk and deliver high-quality projects. As an investment manager, project sponsor and operator, Redgate pursues an opportunistic strategy that delivers attractive, risk-adjusted returns to equity investors in the multifamily, life sciences and industrial real estate sectors in priority high-growth markets. For more information, visit redgate-re.com.

Optimum Asset Management is a vertically integrated private equity real estate developer / manager specializing in US life science real estate and multifamily development. Through proactive asset management, they optimize mispriced and mismanaged commercial and residential assets in established property markets in Germany and the US. Optimum’s approach to real estate investing is driven by their deep understanding of the real estate and finance markets, the development and operational expertise of their highly experienced team and their commitment to a long-term value creation philosophy. For more information, please visit optimumam.com.