BioMed Realty Trust is to buy MEPC’s Granta Park in Cambridge, in one of the largest sales of a single asset outside London.
The US REIT is believed to be paying £133m for the science and business park, reflecting a yield of 7.5%. Its winning bid is £15m ahead of the nearest bidder for the 472, 000 sq ft estate. Yields for Cambridge science parks currently rest around the 8%-8.5% mark.
The 100-acre park to the south-east of Cambridge is fully let and has an annual rent roll of £10.6m with an average unexpired lease of 10 years. It has up to seven acres of development land, which could house 140,000 sq ft of space.
BioMed beat bids from Blackstone, advised by CBRE, and Rockspring, advised by Bidwells.
The San Diego-based real estate firm owns $4.2bn (£2.7bn) of life science-related properties throughout the US but is virtually unknown in the Cambridge market. It is thought that MEPC will be retained to manage the estate in the short term.
MEPC put Granta Park on the market in February with a price tag of £140m following the firm’s refinancing last year.
MEPC, which is advised by Jones Lang LaSalle, declined to comment.
nadia.elghamry@estatesgazette.com
