Bain Capital’s Buying Spree Spreads to Boston

Bain Capital’s head of real estate has said the Boston-based company was bullish on long-term investments in sectors with strong demand, and the firm is making good on that forecast.

Bain and joint venture partner Botanic Properties acquired a former Fujifilm facility at 45 Crosby Drive in Bedford for $26 million, Bisnow reported. Fujifilm acquired the property from chemical company BASF Corporation in 2001 for $2.4 million.

Bain and Botanic are plotting a life sciences bid with plans to convert the property from manufacturing to biomanufacturing. To that end, the partners acquired the building through their GenesisM real estate platform, which targets the development of biomanufacturing facilities.

The partners said in a release the redeveloped property would “meet the specialized needs of leading biotech companies.” Planned for 154,000 square feet, the property would also have the capability of housing multiple tenants.

The greater Boston area is one of the top life sciences markets in the country, though the sector is going through a tumultuous slowdown after soaring during the early days of the pandemic. Cuts by President Donald Trump’s administration to federal health and grant funding further imperil the sector, though tariffs could also increase biomanufacturing demand stateside.

Eli Lilly, Pfizer and AstraZeneca are among the pharmaceutical companies with plans to add to manufacturing capabilities in the United States.

This week, Bain teamed up with Oliver Street Capital to purchase 11 light industrial buildings in New Jersey’s warehouse sector for $208 million. Blackstone was the seller, sources told The Real Deal.

While Bain dates back decades, it didn’t launch its real estate business until 2017, when it acquired Harvard Management Company’s real estate team. Bain owns and operates more than 5 million square feet of life science space in the United States.

New York-based Botanic was founded in 2016 and specializes specifically in the life sciences sector.

— Holden Walter-Warner