The 120,000-sf building is owned by Beal Cos. About 100,000 sfwas preleased to Palm Inc., a California-based developer ofhand-held computers, but the company's expansion plans didn't panout and it never occupied the space. Because of Alnylam's interestin the space, Palm negotiated a termination deal with Beal for the45,000 sf enabling Alnylam to negotiate a direct lease deal withBeal.

Roy Hirshland, president and CEO of T3 Realty Advisors,represented Alnylam in the transaction. He tells GlobeSt.com thatdespite the fact that some sublease deals tend to command a lowerlease rate, in this case it was not in Alnylam's interest tosublease space. He points out that there is a risk inherent insublease deals and with space for life sciences companies requiringa higher capital investment, it wasn't worth it. He adds thatAlnyam was able to negotiate for the rest of Palm'sseven-and-a-half year term on the lease, and that the company got a"great rate" as well as an allowance from Beal for a build out ofthe space. "We got our cake and ate it too," says Hirshland. JoeFlaherty of Meredith & Grew represented Palm in the transactionwhile Mike Manzo of Beal Cos. represented his firm.

Hirshland declined to reveal the lease rate but notes that theaverage rate for this type of space ranges from the high $30s persf to the mid $40s per sf. Alnylams's rate is within the range, hesays.