Alexandria Real Estate Equities Explained

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.
Type:Public
Traded As:
S&P 500 component
Industry:Real estate investment trust
Founder:Joel S. Marcus
Jerry M. Sudarsky
Hq Location:Pasadena, California, U.S.
Key People:Joel S. Marcus (chairman)
Marc E. Binda (CFO)
Revenue: $2.588 billion (2022)
Net Income: $513 million (2022)
Assets: $35.523 billion (2022)
Equity: $18.972 billion (2022)
Num Employees:593 (2022)
Footnotes:[1]

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. is a real estate investment trust based in Pasadena, California that invests in office buildings and laboratories leased to tenants in the life science and technology industries.[1]

The company also has a venture capital arm, Alexandria Venture Investments, which invests in life sciences firms.[2]

The company is named after Alexandria, Egypt because of that city's connection to science.[3]

Investments

As of December 31, 2022, the company owned or had investments in 41.7 million square feet of operating properties in addition to properties under construction.[1]

The company's largest tenants are as follows:[1]

RankTenant% of 2022 Revenue
1Bristol-Myers Squibb3.5%
2Moderna2.6%
3Eli Lilly and Company2.5%
4Takeda Pharmaceutical Company1.9%
5Illumina, Inc.1.8%
6Sanofi1.7%
72seventy bio1.7%
8Novartis1.5%
9TIBCO Software1.4%
10Uber1.4%

The company's revenues are derived in the following markets:

RankLocation% of 2022 Revenue
1Greater Boston36%
2San Francisco Bay Area23%
3San Diego16%
4Maryland6%
5New York City5%
6Seattle5%
7Research Triangle, North Carolina5%
8Texas2%
9Canada1%
10Other1%

Properties are generally located near universities to attract tenants.[4] The company has several properties in Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where it has invested over $2.3 billion since its first investment in the neighborhood in 2002.[5] Its largest campuses in Boston are the 2,365,487 square foot Alexandria Center at Kendall Square and the 1,181,635 square foot Technology Square (Cambridge, Massachusetts).[1]

The company's 740,972 square foot Alexandria Center for Life Science in Manhattan has several biotechnology tenants.[6] [1]

The company's San Diego properties are primarily in Torrey Pines, San Diego, University City, San Diego, and Sorrento Mesa, San Diego.[1]

History

In 1993, one of the partners of Jacobs Engineering Group, Jerry M. Sudarsky, was presented with a Business Plan written by Kendell R. Lang titled BioProperties Management Group, Inc., which was a plan to form a REIT dedicated to funding biotech properties. The initial business plan included founders Kendell Lang, Alan Gold, Gary Kreitzer, and Steven Stone as part of the initial management team. Jacobs approached Joel S. Marcus, a lawyer and CPA, with the idea of representing their interests in this company to oversee the management team who intended to provide laboratories and office space to biotech firms. Jacobs invested in the company with $5 million.[7]

Its first purchase was of 4 buildings in San Diego which had been negotiated and structured by Kendell R. Lang.[4]

In 1997, it became a public company via an initial public offering, raising $155 million.[4]

In October 2002, the company acquired the headquarters of ZymoGenetics for $52 million in a leaseback transaction.[8]

In 2007, the company began the development of the West Tower of the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto.[9] The company stopped construction during the Great Recession, and in 2014, it sold its interest to the Government of Ontario for $65 million.[10]

In January 2013, the company sold a research facility in Seattle to Trammell Crow Company for $42.6 million.[11]

In June 2018, the company acquired an office building leased to Amazon.com in Seattle from The Blackstone Group for $95 million.[12]

In July 2018, the company acquired 219 East 42nd Street, the headquarters of Pfizer, for $203 million in a leaseback transaction.[13] Beginning in 2023, Pfizer made plans to move their headquarters across town to The Spiral at Hudson Yards.[14] In June 2024, Manhattan borough President Mark Levine announced that the building will be converted into 1500 apartments, the largest commercial conversion in the city to date.[15]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. 2022 Form 10-K Annual Report . U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  2. News: Alexandria Sets up Incubator, $25M Seed Fund For NY Bio Startups . Ben . Fidler . . June 8, 2016.
  3. News: Alexandria Real Estate Equities: More Than Just a Landlord . Alcorn . Stacey . . January 25, 2016.
  4. News: The #1 Real Estate Stock To Own Is Built On Trends . Hartung . Adam . . May 20, 2017.
  5. News: A real estate empire grows in Kendall Square . Ross . Carey . . April 14, 2015.
  6. News: Take a look inside the stunning offices where companies are reinventing NYC's biotech scene . Lydia . Ramsey . Hollis . Johnson . . July 14, 2016.
  7. News: Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.: People, Passion, Purpose . Ron . Derven . NAIOP . Fall 2019.
  8. News: ZymoGenetics sells headquarters in $52 million lease-back deal . . October 7, 2002.
  9. News: MaRS selects Alexandria Real Estate Equities to expand the MaRS Centre in the Discovery District of Toronto . . June 26, 2007.
  10. News: Ontario government bails out MaRS building for $309m . Robert . Benzie . . September 23, 2014.
  11. News: Trammell Crow Co. back in the game in Seattle with $42.6 million acquisition . Marc . Stiles . . January 23, 2013.
  12. News: Another Amazon-leased building sells for $95 million . Marc . Stiles . . June 7, 2018 . subscription.
  13. Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. Expands Its First-in-Class New York City Regional Life Science Cluster Franchise with the Strategic Acquisition of 219 East 42nd Street in Manhattan, Subject to a Leaseback . . July 13, 2018.
  14. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/mayor-adams-joins-pfizer-ceo-grand-opening-new-nyc-headquarters Mayor Adams Joins Pfizer CEO for Grand Opening of New NYC Headquarters
  15. https://pix11.com/news/local-news/manhattan/old-pfizer-hq-in-nyc-to-be-converted-into-housing-manhattan-borough-president/ Old Pfizer HQ in NYC to be converted into housing: Manhattan Borough President