290 Binney St./Image courtesy of Pickard Chilton

Astrazenica’s 570,000-square-foot lease at 290 Binney St. in Cambridge represents the first tenant to commit to Boston Properties’ mixed-use redevelopment of its Blue Garage property in Kendall Square, while potentially creating new opportunities for life science companies to grow in Boston’s Seaport District and Waltham.

The British pharma giant announced its plans to open the new R&D center in 2026 at 290 Binney St., one of two lab buildings proposed at the Kendall Square property.

Astrazeneca’s recently-acquired Alexion Pharmaceuticals division, which is headquartered at 121 Seaport in Boston, also will occupy the future Cambridge building. In 2017, Alexion leased 150,000 square feet at 121 Seaport and relocated its headquarters from New Haven, Connecticut.

Boston Properties is seeking approval from Cambridge officials for two lab buildings and a 38-story apartment tower on the 1.7-acre site in the heart of the Kendall Square tech cluster.

The project includes the demolition of the 6-story parking garage, which would be replaced with below-grade parking, to make way for the three new buildings and a new substation for utility Eversource.

The facility, with an estimated 1,500 employees, also will replace Astrazeneca’s Waltham facility in Waltham, the Boston Globe reported, where the drugmaker opened its Gatehouse Park BioHub in 2015. The 43-acre property is owned by Astrazeneca and contains a 274,871-square-foot building, according to Waltham property records.

Astrazeneca on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings of $386 million on quarterly revenues of $11.4 billion.