Alexandria Real Estate Equities reached an agreement with the city that allows the company to move forward with plans for a 550,000-square-foot tower at its East Side life-sciences campus.
The California-based real estate investment trust announced Thursday that it signed an amendment allowing it start development on the north tower at its 1.3 million-square-foot campus along the FDR Drive between East 28th and East 30th streets.
The deal increases the size of the north tower – the third building on the site – from the originally planned 420,000 square feet to 550,000 square feet. It could cost around $700 million to build, according to Crain’s.
John Cunningham, Alexandria’s director for the New York City region, said the north tower will be “designed to meet the needs of early-stage companies spinning out of world-class academic and medical institutions, which comprise the majority of demand in New York City.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration has pushed to make the city a hot spot for the biotech and life-sciences sectors, which are booming in places like Boston. Earlier this week, the Long Island City Partnership released a report pitching the Queens neighborhood as an ideal place for a hub.
Alexandria last week bought a Long Island City building for $75 million, which it plans to convert to life-science and biotech uses.
Earlier this year, the company teamed up with David Werner to buy Pfizer’s Midtown East headquarters for $365 million.