Life sciences property owner and developer Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) aims to create a network of life sciences hubs across the country and the firm has made a Research Triangle Park, North Carolina acquisition its first move in the strategy.
The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences‘ headquarters has been sold to an Alexandria affiliate for $20 million. Alexandria is already RTP’s largest real estate player and operates 840,000 square feet of lab and office space. Overall, the firm operates more than 12.4 million square feet of space in key life sciences clusters including San Diego, San Francisco, the greater Boston area and suburban Washington, D.C.
RTP has been The Hamner’s home since its 1970s beginnings as the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology. The institute now houses The Hamner’s Institute for Drug Safety Sciences and Institute for Chemical Safety Sciences. The Hamner will lease back the 140,000-square-foot building from Alexandria.
The Hamner will be part of what Alexandria calls the RTP Collaboration Consortium. Alexandria says that the move is part of a “core university strategy” that consists of building a network of institutionally anchored life sciences hubs. These sites will collaborate with universities, companies and international institutions. The Alexandria initiative continues efforts already under way at The Hamner. Besides university partnerships and research arrangements with industry, the institute has also been nurturing international relationships, particularly with China’s emerging life sciences community.
Alexandria CEO Joel Marcus said in a statement that the firm aims to develop life sciences clusters in locations close to top academic centers. Alexandria’s Research Triangle tenants already include Duke University and The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The firm also counts life sciences firms Bayer, Eisai, Medicago and Astellas Pharma among its RTP tenants.
