The last wave of changes in Boston’s Fenway replaced beloved nightclubs and quirky retailers with luxury housing towers. The next transformation is being driven by life science developers setting out to “conquer” new territory.
The latest proposals for nearly 800,000 square feet of life science development in the Fenway are designed to meet the city of Boston’s goal of weaning commercial development off reliance on fossil fuels.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities’ search for promising growth corridors for life science outside of Cambridge has led to the Fenway with a $1.52 billion agreement to buy Samuels & Assoc.’s 1.8-million-square-foot portfolio, including plans for an additional 400,000-square-foot office-lab building.
A 500,000-square-foot office-lab tower will begin to rise in the Fenway this year following leases by a life science-focused venture capital firm and Cambridge biotech company.
