Elkus Manfredi Architects A view from Water Street of the life sciences building at 66 Galen St.
A prominent life science building on Galen Street Watertown has signed two tenants, developers announced on Friday.
LifeMine Therapeutics will lease the fourth floor of 66 Galen, a 225,000 sq. ft. life science lab building on the Southside of Watertown. The company is expected to occupy the space by August 2025. An unnamed company will occupy the third floor of the building by October 2025, according to the Boston Globe. The company is referred to as NewCo in the announcement of the leases by the developers, Boston Development Group and The Davis Companies.
LifeMine is pioneering a bold new approach, Top-Down Drug DiscoveryTM, which leverages evolutionary insights from fungi to unearth next-generation precision medicines, according to the company’s website.
Developers are seeking tenants for the first two floors of 66 Galen.
The project was approved in 2021 and occupies multiple properties, including the former Colonial GMC Buick auto dealership. The building was constructed before signing tenants, and developers hosted multiple functions so the public could view the space including an event hosted by the Charles River Regional Chamber in February.
The two companies are some of the latest from the growing list of life science firms moving to Watertown. The late 2010s saw an increase of biotech companies moving into the City, but the pace slowed after the Pandemic.
The announcement of the two signings at 66 Galen Street was greeted warmly by Greg Reibman, President and CEO of the Charles River Chamber.
“This is terrific news and indicates there’s still a lot of interest in Watertown as a hub for life science companies and other exciting new companies. The innovative soft drink company Culture Pop Soda also just announced plans to move to 64 Pleasant Street. That’s the same building Gov. Maura Healey toured in May to visit the clean tech startup Via Separations,” he said. ““It’s also great news for the restaurants and shops in Watertown Square, or those thinking of one day coming to the square. Having all those workers in walking distance is a great benefit for our small businesses.”
The following announcement was provided by The Davis Companies and Boston Development Group:
The Davis Companies (Davis) and Boston Development Group (BDG) announced Friday that they have entered into lease agreements with life sciences firms LifeMine Therapeutics and a new stealth mode biotech (NewCo) at 66 Galen Street in Watertown, a purpose-built Class A life science building owned in a joint venture between Davis and BDG. The new tenants will occupy more than half of the leasable space at 66 Galen.
LifeMine, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering Top-Down Drug Discovery™, a bold innovative approach that leverages evolutionary insights from fungi to unearth next-generation precision medicines, will fully occupy the 56,456 RSF fourth floor. The stealth-mode, NewCo well-funded by elite life-science venture firms will occupy the third floor, comprised of 61,189 square feet. Both companies operate under the leadership of transformational biotech pioneer and serial life science entrepreneur Greg Verdine, Ph.D.
The 225K square-foot, LEED Gold certified, Class A purpose-built life science building is designed with market-leading infrastructure and quality, featuring a hotel-style lobby and cafe, rooftop gathering space with kitchen facilities and commanding views, multiple private outdoor terraces for tenant use, integral garage parking and floor to ceiling window walls, providing generous views and natural light throughout the building. Located in Watertown Square, the building is ideally situated within Watertown’s growing innovation and life sciences hub, with convenient access to a wide array of public transportation options, as well as the Mass Pike, ensuring that tenant companies have access to the region’s expanding talent pool, enabling them to scale and grow on campus.
“66 Galen provides state-of-the-art lab space, superior amenities, and proximity to other major life science clusters in the region, giving tenants an unmatched opportunity to scale their businesses,” said Jon Needham, Senior Vice President at Davis. “The decision to move the operations of two life sciences firms to the same building is a powerful affirmation of 66 Galen’s infrastructure and architectural excellence. We’re confident that they are exactly the type of tenants that will thrive on this growing campus.”
Located on the Charles River within Watertown Square, this location offers tenants panoramic views of Boston, easily visible from the building’s shared rooftop patio and adjoining entertainment space. Tenants also have access to Watertown’s bustling retail and restaurant hub as well as numerous local amenities such as bike paths along the Charles River.
Forty percent of the 66 Galen site is dedicated to open green space. The building features abundant indoor greenery and curated landscaping in an open-concept design that promotes optimal air circulation throughout common spaces. Designed with smart building systems, the campus is powered by 25,000 square feet of rooftop solar panels, with energy-efficient lighting, air purification, and smart thermal control technology.
The strategic decision to move both LifeMine and the stealth NewCo under the same roof is expected to foster ideas and accelerate the pace of innovation. The proximity to the Greater Boston life science cluster will also support talent recruitment efforts.
“We are delighted to partner with Davis and BDG,” said Greg Verdine, Ph.D., Co-founder and CEO of LifeMine Therapeutics, and Co-founder of the stealth NewCo. “The property they’ve conceived and constructed at 66 Galen is welcoming, beautiful, and highly functional. Both of our teams fell in love with this distinctive, differentiated facility. We are eager to make it the new home for both of our companies.”
The building features 14-plus-foot floor-to-floor heights on tenant floors, 20-foot heights in the first-floor lobby and 22-foot height in the mechanical penthouse.
Duncan Gratton, Connor Barnes and Joe Pearce of Cushman & Wakefield represented 66 Galen as the landlord’s leasing agents. Evan Gallagher and John Carroll of Colliers represented the tenants. For more information on 66 Galen or to submit a lease inquiry, please visit: https://66galen.com/
About Davis
Davis is a vertically integrated real estate investment, development and management firm that leverages five decades of experience, the strength of its leadership team and employees and a diversified portfolio to deliver maximum value for its investors and tenants. Headquartered in Boston and investing across the United States, Davis prides itself on taking a nimble, collaborative approach to delivering best-in-class results from complex opportunities. With $12.9 billion in gross asset value invested through real estate equity, debt and fixed-income securities, Davis today owns a real estate portfolio of approximately 13.9 million square feet of healthcare and life science, industrial, retail, office and hospitality properties and more than 5,900 residential units across the United States. For further information, visit www.thedaviscompanies.com.
About BDG
Boston Development Group is a family-run business made up of privately held real estate companies based in Massachusetts. Founded over sixty years ago, BDG has expanded on its early visionary role as a residential developer and builder to become a dynamic, multi-faceted real estate organization. The company has grown into a well-respected leader in the field of Real Estate, specializing in the acquisition, development and management of commercial and residential properties. BDG’s expertise encompasses land acquisition, design, construction, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of buildings, as well as property management, leasing and sales. As the company moves into the future, Boston Development Group continues to build on its fundamental strengths and creative abilities. BDG has an impressive real estate portfolio that includes prominent commercial, retail and residential properties throughout Massachusetts. The Company also has developed, owned and managed hotels and retirement facilities. In addition to real estate development and ownership, the firm markets, leases and manages all properties within its current portfolio. For further information, visit www.bdg1.com.
About LifeMine
LifeMine is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering Top-Down Drug Discovery™, a bold new approach that leverages evolutionary insights from fungi to unearth next-generation precision medicines. Leveraging its data-immersive and technologically expansive discovery engine, LifeMine is uniquely positioned to discover mechanistically and structurally novel precision medicines active against high-impact disease targets faster than ever before. LifeMine’s initial pipeline programs are focused on autoimmune disorder and solid organ transplantation. Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., with offices in Gloucester Harbor, Mass. and Basel, Switzerland, LifeMine has raised more than $295 million from leading life science investors. For additional information, please visit www.lifeminetx.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
Two new companies coming to Watertown. Sounds like the economic development strategy is working as planned, albeit with some delays due to the post-pandemic economic challenges.