Image courtesy of BioMed Realty

What: 601 Congress St.
Where: Boston
Owner: BioMed Realty
Built: 2004 

BioMed Realty plans to convert the 482,000-square-foot former John Hancock headquarters in Boston’s Seaport District into lab-ready space to satisfy the life science industry’s demand for growth. 

BioMed plans to convert the second through 12th floors of the building into a 50-50 split of office and lab space, while retaining offices on the 13th and 14th floors. The conversion is expected to be completed in the second half of 2022. The building’s robust mechanicals and utility capacity made it suitable for a lab conversion, BioMed said. 

With the 601 Congress acquisition, BioMed owns nearly 5.9 million square feet in Greater Boston, comprising more than half of its 11.4 million-square-foot portfolio in the U.S. and United Kingdom. In December, BioMed paid $3.45 billion for a 2.3 million-square-foot life science portfolio in East Cambridge, and completed its $93.7 million acquisition of a life science development site on Middlesex Avenue in Somerville, where it’s planning 1.6 million square feet of commercial space. 

They Said It: 

“We see the Seaport as an area that’s going to interact very well with our Boston-Cambridge footprint. We’re 100 percent leased for the Cambridge portfolio, so we’re really in need of space to grow. Life science companies want to hire the best and brightest talent, and the Seaport has proven it can attract that talent from the number of companies that have established themselves there.” 

—Colleen O’Connor, vice president of leasing, BioMed Realty