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Biotech complex would be region's largest
Shops and housing also planned on 250 acres in Burlington
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | July 22, 2008
A Framingham developer is proposing to build the largest life sciences complex in New England, a cluster of labs and offices on 250 acres in Burlington that would also include retail shops and up to 2,000 units of housing for the elderly.
The life sciences part of the development would total 2 million square feet for research laboratories and administrative offices. Though the developer, Patriot Partners LLC, does not have tenants lined up, it's betting the life sciences sector will remain robust and biotechnology companies will continue migrating to the suburbs.
"This is an extremely ambitious project," said Robert Buckley, Patriot Partners' Boston lawyer. "The demands of this industry, and the amenities we plan to offer, will help attract and retain talented employees to this area."
The proposed location is a forested tract bordered by Route 3 and Route 128 to the east and south and by residential areas of Bedford and Lexington to the north and west. The Town of Burlington owns the site, but Patriot Partners obtained an outstanding option to purchase it.
The developers expect to negotiate with a town committee for the land. Development costs are expected to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Burlington's town administrator did not return calls seeking comment.
The development is one of the first to be proposed since the Legislature last month passed Governor Deval L. Patrick's life sciences legislation, a 10-year, $1 billion package of grants and tax breaks for the burgeoning industry. The developers have not said if they would seek state funds for the project. But they cited the new law as an example of the favorable environment in which to propose such a massive development.
Patrick welcomed the Burlington proposal. "This development is a great sign of the economic expansions to come," he said in a prepared statement.
There are significant hurdles. For one, the property is landlocked; the towns of Lexington and Bedford have easements on neighboring land that prevent vehicle access to the property from those sides.
The land is now used informally by nearby residents for trail walking.
The developers must construct access across Route 3 to the property, which may entail building bridges and ramps.
There are also other big blocs of commercial space under development - including just across Route 3 from the Patriot Partners' location, where Nordblom Co. intends to build out the Network Drive complex.
And in Cambridge, Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. said in May that it would build a $1 billion, 1.5 million-square-foot laboratory complex near Kendall Square.
Just down Route 128 at the Route 2 intersection is Lexington Technology Park, a 96-acre campus being built out by Patriot Partners. The campus, former headquarters of Raytheon Corp., is now home to a division of the British drug company Shire PLC, one of the largest life sciences companies to decamp from the Cambridge area to the suburbs recently.
Patriot Partners was scheduled to present its proposal last night before a Burlington town committee. In the presentation prepared for that meeting, Patriot Partners indicated the property is expected to generate $50 million in property taxes for the town over 10 years. Representatives of the company said there are no current plans to request tax deferrals. They also indicated they would begin paying taxes as soon as they gain access to the land.
Buckley said the developers are also working with Erickson Retirement Communities on plans to build between 1,500 and 2,000 units of housing for senior citizens on the property. The housing complex would include restaurants, retail shops, and entertainment venues such as a movie theater.
Erickson has built two other retirement communities in Massachusetts, Linden Ponds in Hingham and Brooksby Village in Peabody.
In Burlington, the housing complex and life sciences campus would be separated by about 50 acres of open space, where the developers contemplate walking trails and an amphitheatre.
The life sciences campus would anchor the development. Real estate industry officials said the campus could feed on a trend of companies moving to suburbs such as Lexington and Waltham.
Since 2001, those two communities have welcomed 27 biotechnology firms that have filled about 1.7 million square feet of office and lab space, according to the real estate company Cushman & Wakefield. Nineteen of the companies moved from Cambridge.
Mark Winters, Cushman & Wakefield's executive director, said the suburbs now have much less vacant space than does Cambridge. "That's a reflection of the outward laboratory demand coming from Cambridge," he said.
The state's biotechnology sector has continued to grow, despite the downturn in the economy. Bristol-Myers Squibb, for example, is building a $1 billion facility at the former Fort Devens. And a host of companies have expanded their operations, including Organogenesis Inc., EMD Serono, Altus Pharmaceuticals, and Immunogen.
Still, with construction and energy costs soaring, there remains unease about the prospects for such huge new spaces.
"The question is: How much demand will there be from these life sciences firms in the future?" said David Begelfer, chief executive of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties of Massachusetts. "Is there going to be enough interest to fill a whole campus like this?"
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
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