BioMed Realty Expands in Its Core Markets

BioMed Realty is ramping up its expansion. The life science real estate firm starts the year with eight officer promotions in San Diego and Cambridge. The promotions are in legal, leasing and development, key areas of expansion for the firm. The eight promotions include Kevin Simonsen has been promoted to EVP and general counsel and secretary; Marie Lewis has been promoted to SVP of legal and assistant secretary; David Hsiao has been elevated to VP and chief information officer; Colleen O’Connor becomes VP of leasing for the East Coast and UK; Ken Kuras has been promoted to VP and senior controller of development; John Moshy was promoted to VP of development; Carlye Murphy becomes VP of legal; and Kevin Tremblay becomes VP and San Diego market lead.

“This round of promotions was really focusing on our growth and the professionals that have grown up in the organization and helped to advance the company, whether it is from the in-house legal staff to the leasing side and the development side,” Tim Schoen, president and CEO of BioMed Realty, tells GlobeSt.com. “These are really the functional areas in growing the business.”

The firm’s growth has been strategic, but is also bolstered by substantial growth in life science and technology, particularly in it six core markets of San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Boston, New York, and the United Kingdom. “We have seen growth in the overall life science market. We are very focused on the core markets, and the people that got promoted are all in our core markets,” Schoen says. “These are promotions are growth in key areas. In those markets, both the life science and the technology markets are growing. These are markets where we are seeing the strongest demand from companies and research institutions and clinical hospitals as well as technology companies.”

Specifically, BioMed is looking to grow in markets with both density and innovation. “We like the markets where innovation and urbanization come together. San Diego is a land constrained market, and there are areas in the market where you can’t develop anymore,” says Schoen. “Sorrento Mesa and Torrey Pines are examples. That is also where people and researchers want to live. They are places with a strong ecosystem.”

In addition to its core markets, BioMed is looking for opportunities in primary markets with high barriers to entry. “We would also like to continue to find opportunities in New York and London, but those markets are harder to break into,” says Schoen. “Having Blackstone as a sponsor gives us a large network around the globe.”

This year, BioMed doesn’t have any specific goals in terms of development or capital allocation, but it does plan to remain active. “We are going to continue to acquire properties and expand our development pipeline in the core markets,” says Schoen. “We have established growth pipelines in each of those markets, but we haven’t allocated a specific capital amount.”