Boston Properties Snaps up Two Lab Properties in Massachusetts

The largest publicly held developer and owner of Class A office properties in the U.S., Boston Properties (BXP) has acquired two lab properties in Waltham, Massachusetts from an affiliate entity of Montana Avenue Capital Partners for a cash consideration of $100 million.

This acquisition further builds upon Boston Properties’ life sciences portfolio. The acquired properties are leased to a pharmaceutical company. Boston properties presently has 4.9 million square feet of lab space and Class A office properties in Massachusetts’ Waltham/Lexington area.

Bryan Koop, Executive Vice President, Boston Region, Boston Properties said, “Waltham continues to be a dominant urban edge location for life sciences organizations that want to attract and retain highly-educated talent.” (See Boston Properties stock analysis on TipRanks)

David Provost, Senior Vice President of Development, Co-Head of BXP Life Sciences, Boston Properties said, “The adjacency to our 200 West Street lab space and our medical space at 195 West street creates a significant opportunity for another BXP life sciences cluster in the Waltham market.”

Provost added, “This complements our existing life sciences presence in the Waltham market and allows us to meet ongoing demand from this important sector.”

On May 4, Argus Research analyst Angus Ferguson reiterated a Buy rating on the stock and increased the price target to $120 from $100.

Ferguson thinks worries of permanently decreased demand for office space amid the COVID-19 pandemic are “overblown”.

Boston Properties has a development pipeline of $2.7 billion with a focus on coastal markets outside of New York. According to Ferguson, that offers the company a competitive advantage over its peers.

Consensus among analysts is that Boston Properties is a Hold based on 3 Buys, 8 Holds, and 1 Sell. The average analyst price target of $109.58 implies 8.9% potential downside.

Shares have gained about 32.4% so far this year.