BioMed Realty Developing 93,000-SF Lab

SEATTLE-A 93,000-sf laboratory building will be developed in the South Lake Union area by a joint venture of the publicly held life sciences REIT BioMed Realty Trust Inc. of San Diego and locally based EDG Commercial Real Estate, which is led by local broker Tom Erlandson. The five-story Fairview Research Center will be located at 530 Fairview Avenue, on the southeast corner of Fairview Avenue North and Mercer Street.

The development schedule calls for tenant improvements to begin in the third quarter of 2006 and occupancy in the second quarter of 2007. The goal from an environmental standpoint is to achieve a silver certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design organization run by the US Green Building Council.

The project will be in close proximity to the facilities of other life science organizations. Nearby operators include University of Washington School of Medicine, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Children’s Hospital and Merck Pharmaceuticals.

BioMed already owns two properties in the Seattle area, a 135,000-sf lab and office building at 201 Elliott Ave. in Seattle and a 51,000-sf two-building development in Bothell known as Elliott Park. A BioMed executive could not be reached Thursday for comment and neither could Erlandson, who doubles as a broker for Alexander Commercial Real Estate.

BioMed president Alan Gold in a prepared statement says EDG and Erlandson have significant experience leasing and developing laboratory facilities in the Puget Sound region, including the Monte Villa Parkway property that BioMed acquired in August 2004.

In June, BioMed made what it described as a landmark acquisition, paying $523 million for a 1.1 million-sf eight-building portfolio in Cambridge, MA, and Lebanon, NH. The acquisition established BioMed as one of the larger owners of life science office and laboratory space in the Cambridge market. BioMed’s real estate portfolio now stands at around 4.2 million sf in 55 buildings in 35 separate developments. <P