Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. Announces Long-Term Full Building Lease with Pinterest at 505 Brannan Street for a Dynamic and Creative New Tech Office Facility in the Heart of SoMa

PASADENA, Calif., Aug. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), the largest and leading office REIT uniquely focused on collaborative science and technology campuses in urban innovation clusters, announced today that Pinterest, the visual bookmarking tool, has signed a long-term full-building lease for 150,000 RSF at 505 Brannan Street in the South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood of San Francisco. The 505 Brannan Street site is fully entitled under Proposition M, and vertical construction will commence beginning in early 2016. The building is targeted for LEED Platinum certification, and is expected to be placed into service in early 2017.

"We welcome Pinterest to its new home in our SoMa/Mission Bay innovation cluster. 505 Brannan Street represents another meaningful extension and integration of Alexandria's Mission Bay campus into the SoMa technology district, reinforcing the intersection of two extremely innovative locations," said Joel Marcus, chairman, chief executive officer and founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. "Alexandria is landlord to the fast growing technology and science industries, where we continue to see very strong demand for space in our urban innovation clusters from world-class companies that need to be in centers for innovation, collaboration and creativity. This important lease with Pinterest reflects our success and allows Alexandria to continue enhancing its urban science and technology campus strategy in AAA locations."

"We're proud to have been a part of the SoMa and Brannan Street community for the past three years, and we're thankful for the opportunity to remain in the neighborhood as we create a service that helps people all over the world unlock creativity," said Natalie Fair, head of finance for Pinterest.

505 Brannan Street will offer Pinterest's employees convenient access to the local neighborhood businesses, as well as the future 4^th Street light rail stop, with connections to BART and the Caltrain terminal. The amenity-rich 505 Brannan facility will feature inviting and open public space as a means to welcome and integrate the community with Pinterest. This site will also include a lively café to energize the streetscape, and a creative and inspiring design plan to enhance innovation, productivity and collaboration. The 24/7 live/work/play dynamic of the SoMa and Mission Bay neighborhoods includes many leading companies currently driving advances in technology and scientific discovery, along with numerous restaurants, new high-quality residential buildings, cultural centers, the AT&T Park (home of the San Francisco Giants), and the future home of the Golden State Warriors arena and entertainment venue.

"We are honored to partner with Pinterest, a global brand transforming the way people save and discover the things they love," said Steve Richardson, chief operating officer and regional market director of San Francisco at Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. "As the country's leading urban developer for science and technology campuses, Alexandria brings its expertise in developing inventive and mission-critical facilities to the 505 Brannan project, a facility that will inspire Pinterest's creative workforce."

Alexandria's deep and broad entitlement, design and development expertise and experience, as well as its credible and respectful long-term relationships with key San Francisco government agencies, have enabled the company to successfully develop approximately 3.1 million RSF of high-quality office and laboratory space in its San Francisco region that is now 100% leased to pioneering client tenants. Alexandria's collaborative urban campuses provide its client tenants with best-in-class locations and buildings in close proximity to leading institutions, skilled and exceptional talent, sources of capital and other world-renowned companies.

About Pinterest

Pinterest is a visual discovery tool people use to save and discover creative ideas. The company's mission is to help people discover the things they love and inspire them to do those things in their real life. Launched in 2010, Pinterest is based in San Francisco, California, and is available at pinterest.com, and on iOS and Android.

About Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE) is the largest and leading office REIT uniquely focused on collaborative science and technology campuses in urban innovation clusters with a total market capitalization of $10.7 billion as of June 30, 2015, and an asset base of 31.1 million square feet, including 18.8 million RSF of operating and current value-creation projects, as well as an additional 12.3 million square feet of near-term and future ground-up development projects. Alexandria pioneered this niche in 1994 and has since established a dominant market presence in AAA locations, including Greater Boston, San Francisco, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland and Research Triangle Park. Alexandria is known for its high-quality and diverse client tenant base, with approximately 53% of total annualized base rent as of June 30, 2015, generated from investment-grade client tenants – a REIT industry-leading percentage. Alexandria has a longstanding and proven track record of developing Class A assets clustered in urban science and technology campuses that provide its innovative client tenants with highly dynamic and collaborative environments that enhance their ability to successfully recruit and retain world-class talent and inspire productivity, efficiency, creativity and success. For more information, please visit www.are.com.

SOURCE Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.