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Just three months after announcing a new 243,000-square-foot headquarters for 2,000 employees at Cambridge Crossing, Philips North America is reportedly committing to nearly 100,000 square feet more in the speculative development.
The Dutch health tech company announced in January it would move its North American headquarters from Minuteman Road in Andover to 250 North St. in East Cambridge. The 425,000-square-foot office and lab building is being developed by DivcoWest and is scheduled for completion in 2020.
Philips has subsequently agreed to occupy a total of 341,000 square feet at 250 North St., according to real estate sources.
Philips spokeswoman Silvie Casanova declined to give specifics but confirmed that Philips has “refined our square-footage requirements to ensure we have the appropriate space to start and flexibility for the future.” DivcoWest did not return messages. In a January interview, DivcoWest President of Development Tom Sullivan said 250 North St. attracted serious interest from office and lab tenants more quickly than anticipated.
Philips initially signed a 15-year lease for the third through seventh floors with expansion rights, according to a Middlesex Registry of Deeds filing.
The 425,000-square-foot building which straddles the Cambridge and Somerville line is the first commercial development on the 45-acre former rail yard site, previously known as NorthPoint. DivcoWest acquired the property from Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds and HYM Investment Group in 2015 for $291 million.
Philips also has offices at 2 Canal Park in East Cambridge, which opened in 2015 after it agreed to a five-year, $25-million research partnership with Massachusetts Institute of Technology on health care technology and energy-efficient lighting. The Cambridge Crossing offices will focus on areas including artificial intelligence, genomics and robotics, Philips said in January.
The quick lease-up of 250 North St. nearly two years before completion could prompt DivcoWest to break ground on additional buildings at Cambridge Crossing, which is permitted for 2.1 million square feet of office and lab space.
Local developers including Related Beal, King Street Properties and The Davis Cos. are building speculative lab-ready facilities in the region to meet tech and life science companies’ needs for expansion space on a quick timetable.
“We’ve seen significant success in anything that’s broken ground, whether it’s in Cambridge or Lexington, which is a major suburban life science hub,” said Liz Berthelette, director of research at NAI Hunneman.
