Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. Signs Four Leases Aggregating Approximately 162,000 Square Feet at World-Class 400 Technology Square Redevelopment in Cambridge, Massachusetts

PASADENA, Calif., Oct. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), the leading owner, operator, and developer of high-quality, sustainable real estate for the broad and diverse life science industry, is pleased to announce four recent lease transactions aggregating approximately 162,000 square feet at 400 Technology Square, which is in the final stages of a complete redevelopment from a dated office facility into a LEED^® Gold Certified, highly efficient and robust laboratory/office asset. These long-term lease transactions with first-class life science and energy entities including the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Epizyme, Inc., Warp Drive Bio, LLC, and Aramco Services Company, affirm Alexandria's highly effective redevelopment and conversion skills, as well as Alexandria Technology Square's reputation as one of the world's most desirable locations for collaboration and innovation.

One of seven state-of-the-art laboratory/office facilities comprising the 1.2 million square foot Alexandria Technology Square, 400 Technology Square is ideally located adjacent to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Broad Institute and the Whitehead Institute. Upon completion of the redevelopment in 4Q 2012, the total square footage of 400 Technology Square will have been increased from approximately 194,000 square feet to approximately 212,000 square feet. The facility has unique access to a variety of innovative onsite amenities designed to foster collaboration including two acclaimed restaurants (Catalyst Restaurant and Area Four), creative conference and event space, a fitness center, a parking garage, and an expansive courtyard.

The Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, which was established with a dual mission to contribute to the accelerated discovery of an HIV/AIDS vaccine and become a world leader in the collaborative study of immunology, has preleased approximately 75,000 square feet with an option on approximately 22,000 additional square feet. Epizyme, Inc., a creator of personalized therapeutics for patients with genetically defined cancers based on breakthrough discoveries in the field of epigenetics, has preleased approximately 32,000 square feet. Warp Drive Bio, LLC, driving the reemergence of natural products in the era of genomics to create breakthrough treatments for patients, has preleased approximately 22,000 square feet. Aramco Services Company, the U.S.-based subsidiary of the world's leading oil producing and exporting company, has preleased approximately 33,000 square feet. These diverse new client tenants join Alexandria's high-quality roster at Alexandria Technology Square including Novartis AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc, H3 Biomedicine Inc., the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"400 Technology Square is a clear example of Alexandria's unparalleled life science real estate expertise," said Tom Andrews, Executive Vice President and Regional Market Director at Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. "The announcement that four leading life science and energy entities have leased space at this location is not only a testament to the quality of this redeveloped facility, but also reflects Alexandria Technology Square's ideal location and collaborative campus setting."

Alexandria is the dominant life science owner, operator, developer, and redeveloper in the Greater Boston cluster with approximately 3.7 million square feet of high-quality laboratory and office space located adjacent to world-renowned academic and medical institutions.  Alexandria currently has approximately 100 life science and technology client tenants in the Greater Boston cluster including Abbott Laboratories, Biogen Idec Inc., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc., Eisai Co., Ltd., and UMass Memorial Health Care, Inc. As of June 30, 2012, 48% of Alexandria's annualized base rent came from investment-grade client tenants.

About Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT), is the largest and leading investment-grade REIT focused principally on owning, operating, redeveloping, developing, and acquiring high-quality, sustainable real estate for the broad and diverse life science industry. Founded in 1994, Alexandria was the first REIT to identify and pursue the laboratory niche and has since had the first-mover advantage in every core life science cluster location including Greater Boston, San Francisco Bay, San Diego, New York City, Seattle, Suburban Washington, D.C., and Research Triangle Park. Alexandria's high-credit client tenants span the life science industry, including renowned academic and medical institutions, multinational pharmaceutical companies, public and private biotechnology entities, U.S. government research agencies, medical device companies, clean technology companies, venture capitalists, and life science product and service companies. As the recognized real estate partner of the life science industry, Alexandria has a superior track record in driving client tenant productivity and innovation through its best-in-class laboratory and office space, collaborative locations adjacent to leading academic and medical institutions, unparalleled life science real estate expertise and services, and longstanding and expansive network in the life science community, which we believe result in higher occupancy levels, longer lease terms, higher rental income, higher returns, and greater long-term asset value. For more information, please visit www.are.com.  

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws.  Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.