Large lab developer buys Research Triangle Foundation HQ for $25 million
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, a large developer of laboratory space in the U.S., has bought the Research Triangle Foundation’s headquarters in Research Triangle Park for $25 million, according to Durham County land records.
Earlier this month, the foundation, a not-for-profit that manages Research Triangle Park, told The News & Observer that it was moving its headquarters to The Frontier campus, a collection of offices that is home to many startups and is part of the park’s ambitious Hub RTP project.
At that time, the foundation declined to say what the future of the property would be. On Wednesday, it once again declined to comment.
Alexandria is no stranger to RTP, which is home to hundreds of companies, such as Apple, IBM and Biogen.
It owns 3.9 million square feet of lab and office space throughout the park, making it one of its largest land owners in RTP. The California-based real estate company already owns 56 acres of land adjacent to the foundation’s headquarters.
Joel Marcus, executive chairman of Alexandria, did not respond to questions about his company’s plans for the property. But, in an email, he said, “Alexandria has been at the vanguard and leadership of the life science and agtech cluster ecosystems growth and development in (Research Triangle Park) since 1998 and this continues to this day.”
The 18-acre foundation site is at the heart of Research Triangle Park. The property is just off Interstate 40 and less than a mile from the Hub RTP, a development that is viewed as an attempt to bring an urban-like town center to the center of business park, which has been an economic catalyst for the region for more than half a century.
The 100-acre Hub RTP — originally known as Park Center — has been in the works since 2015, when Durham County pledged money toward the project in hopes that it would reinvigorate Research Triangle Park from a collection of walled-off corporate campuses to a destination for all of the Triangle.
The foundation’s headquarters, which has been its home since 2007, would be the second large purchase in RTP by Alexandria in as many months.
In August, the company bought 100 acres of land at 3029 E. Cornwallis Road, the Triangle Business Journal reported.
In the past year, it has also bought more than 300 acres of the Parmer RTP campus, once part of GlaxoSmithKline’s land holdings in RTP.
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate.
