SAN DIEGO, June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BioMed Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: BMR) announced today the closing of a new $350 million loan with John Hancock Life Insurance Company, TIAA-CREF, and Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank AG. The five year loan is secured by a single property - the Center for Life Science | Boston, a newly constructed 700,000+ square foot state-of-the-art research facility that recently received Gold LEED(R) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
'One of the hallmarks of BioMed's strategy has been proactive management of its capital structure, and the timely completion of the financing for the Center for Life Science | Boston is a prime example of our team's ability to execute on this strategy,' said Kent Griffin, President and Chief Financial Officer of BioMed. 'In combination with our recent secondary common stock offering, which raised gross proceeds of $174.3 million, we have positioned BioMed well for continued long-term success in the execution of our business plan of acquiring, developing, owning and operating world-class research facilities in the core life science markets. We want to thank our lenders for their recognition of the world-class nature of the facility, the strength of its tenancy and especially their commitment to successfully completing this loan in a still challenging global credit environment.'
The Center for Life Science | Boston, located in the heart of Boston's Longwood Medical Area, is surrounded by exceptional life science research institutions, hospitals and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Merck Research Laboratories Boston. Additionally, the Center for Life Science| Boston possesses a premier tenant roster, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Immune Disease Institute and Kowa Company, Ltd.
The $350 million loan bears interest at 7.75% per annum and matures in June 2014. Proceeds from the loan were used to repay a portion of an existing $507.1 million secured construction loan on the property. BioMed paid down the remaining balance of the existing secured construction loan by drawing on the company's unsecured line of credit. The new mortgage financing for the Center for Life Science | Boston successfully addresses the last of BioMed's debt maturities in 2009.
