Alexandria Real Estate Equities
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. is a real estate investment trust that invests in office buildings and laboratories leased to tenants in the life science and technology industries.
The company also has a venture capital arm, Alexandria Venture Investments, which invests in life sciences firms.
The company is named after Alexandria, Egypt because of that city's connection to science.
Investments
As of December 31, 2019, the company owned or had investments in 290 operating properties and development projects comprising 39.2 million square feet.The company's largest tenants are as follows:
| Rank | Tenant | % of 2019 Revenue |
| 1 | Bristol-Myers Squibb | 4.1% |
| 2 | Takeda Pharmaceutical Company | 3.1% |
| 3 | 3.0% | |
| 4 | Illumina, Inc. | 2.8% |
| 5 | Eli Lilly and Company | 2.7% |
| 6 | Sanofi | 2.6% |
| 7 | Novartis | 2.2% |
| 8 | Uber | 2.1% |
| 9 | Merck & Co. | 1.9% |
| 10 | bluebird bio | 1.8% |
The company's revenues are derived in the following markets:
| Rank | Location | % of 2019 Revenue |
| 1 | Greater Boston | 36% |
| 2 | San Francisco | 26% |
| 3 | San Diego | 16% |
| 4 | New York City | 6% |
| 5 | Seattle | 6% |
| 6 | Maryland | 6% |
| 7 | Research Triangle | 3% |
| 8 | Other | 1% |
Properties are generally located near universities to attract tenants. The company has several properties in Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where it has invested over $2.3 billion since its first investment in the neighborhood in 2002. Its largest campuses in Boston are the 2,365,487 square foot Alexandria Center at Kendall Square and the 1,181,635 square foot Technology Square.
The company's 740,972 square foot Alexandria Center for Life Science in Manhattan has several biotechnology tenants.
The company's San Diego properties are primarily in Torrey Pines, San Diego, University City, San Diego, and Sorrento Mesa, San Diego.
History
In 1993, the partners of Jacobs Engineering Group approached Joel S. Marcus, a lawyer and CPA, with the idea of starting a company to provide laboratories and office space to biotech firms. The company was founded in 1994 and Jacobs funded the new company with $5 million.Its first purchase was of 4 buildings in San Diego.
In 1997, it became a public company via an initial public offering, raising $155 million.
In October 2002, the company acquired the headquarters of ZymoGenetics for $52 million in a leaseback transaction.
In 2007, the company began development of the West Tower of the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto. The company stopped construction during the financial crisis of 2007-08, and in 2014, it sold its interest to the Government of Ontario for $65 million.
In January 2013, the company sold a research facility in Seattle to Trammell Crow Company for $42.6 million.
In March 2017, it was added to the S&P 500 Index.
In June 2018, the company acquired an office building leased to Amazon.com in Seattle from The Blackstone Group for $95 million.
In July 2018, the company acquired 219 East 42nd Street, the headquarters of Pfizer, for $203 million in a leaseback transaction.