Biogen recently announced plans for a new global headquarters just steps away from its current one.
The big biotechnology firm has signed a 15-year lease for approximately 580,000 square-feet of space at 55 Broadway in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is part of a development project led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Biogen said the lease agreement is with a new joint venture between MIT’s investment management company and BioMed Realty, a life sciences developer owned by Blackstone.
“Biogen is embarking on a new chapter in the very heart of the community that has shaped our success,” said CEO Christopher Viehbacher in a statement.
The new headquarters are set to open in 2028, aligning with Biogen’s 50th anniversary. It will have laboratories and “upgraded workspaces” meant to spur collaboration by bringing together members of technical, commercial, and research and development teams. It’ll also be designed with sustainable elements like systems that conserve water and use energy more efficiently, Biogen said.
The company intends to be the building’s sole corporate tenant, allowing it to “optimize its real estate footprint in Cambridge” and “create a purpose-built innovation hub.”
Biogen’s current base, at 225 Binney Street, is about a five-minute walk away. It’s part of the world famous Kendall Square biotech hub, home to notable drugmakers like Moderna, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Sarepta Therapeutics. According to Biogen, the move centralizes the company’s presence in Kendall Square and is part of a broader, multiyear plan to consolidate real estate in Massachusetts.
“Biogen has been a foundational presence in the Massachusetts life science ecosystem for close to half a century, and we are thrilled to see them begin a new era in our state,” said Maura Healey, the state’s governor, in that Monday statement.
Almost a decade ago, the federal government selected MIT to develop a 14-acre parcel of land at the heart of Kendall Square that had previously housed the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center. MIT has since rebranded the area as “Kendall Common,” and aims to turn it into a small, mixed-use neighborhood with parks, a community center, 125,000 square feet of retail space, four residential buildings, and more than 1.75 million square feet of office or lab space.
“It’s fitting that Biogen — a company with such close ties to people at MIT — will make Kendall Common’s first building its new home,” said the university’s president, Sally Kornbluth. “The motto of Kendall Square might as well be 'talent in proximity' and Biogen's decision to intensify its presence here promises great things for the whole ecosystem.”
