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Image courtesy of MPA
Partial demolition and renovation of a Lexington office park would create a 686,107-square-foot campus for the growing suburban life science market.
Hobbs Brook Real Estate proposes a pair of new lab buildings on the southwest corner of the 36-acre Ledgemont Technology Center property located near the junction of Routes 2 and 128. As part of the project, approximately 57,000 square feet of the 99 Hayden Ave. office building would be demolished.
The existing buildings pose challenges attracting life science tenants because of their age and layout, according to the developers. The 99 Hayden Ave. building, which Hobbs Brook acquired in 2020, is functionally obsolete because of its small footprint, Hobbs Brook Vice President Bradley Cardoso stated in a submission to the Lexington planning board.
Hobbs Brook Real Estate is seeking approval under a planned development district for the redevelopment, which would add two four-story lab buildings totaling 300,000 square feet. Designed by architects MPA, the buildings would contain 18-foot floor-to-floor heights and up to 40,000-square-foot floor plates to accommodate life science tenants.
The project would also include a 4-story addition to one of the two existing parking garages and additional parking under the two new buildings, creating a total 1,671 spaces on-site for a parking ratio of 2.6 spaces per 1,000 square feet.
The redevelopment would generate an additional $3.7 million in property tax and Community Preservation Act revenues, according to a financial analysis submitted by Fougere Planning & Development Inc.
The project is the latest in a series of planned life science expansions by developers in Lexington, which is seeking to maintain its status as a leading suburban lab cluster.
In November, officials approved Trammell Crow Co.’s plans to demolish the Quality Inn and Suites at 440 Bedford St. and construct a 335,000-square-foot life science building. The project was the first to be approved under Lexington’s lab-friendly rezoning of the Hartwell Avenue and Bedford Street corridor, known as Hartwell Innovation Park.
