Life sciences demand propels another Durham, NC, property sale and financing

Raleigh, Dec. 16, 2021 – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has closed the $138 million sale and arranged $127.55 million in financing for Research Commons, a five-property office portfolio totaling 429,758 square feet in Durham, North Carolina.

JLL marketed the property on behalf of the seller and procured the buyer, Oxford Properties Group. Additionally, JLL worked on behalf of Oxford to secure the loan through United Overseas Bank Limited.

“This offering attracted significant investor interest both domestically and internationally,” said John Mikels, Director, JLL. “Raleigh has emerged as an amazing life science hub, but as of late, is also firmly on the radar of the global community as a prime investment market. Ultimately, we were able to source a global buyer and finance the transaction from a Singapore-based lender highlighting the global appeal of the asset and the market.”

“Despite a tight timeline, we procured a wide variety of interest from debt funds, life companies and banks, which speaks volumes not only to the caliber of sponsorship, but also to lenders’ evolving views of the life science asset class and the emergence of the Triangle as a target market for lenders,” added Aaron Niedermayer, Senior Managing Director, JLL. “The United Overseas Bank team ran a seamless process, and we couldn’t be happier to have facilitated this transaction on behalf of Oxford.”

Research Commons is located at 79 TW Alexander Dr. within Research Triangle Park, the largest dedicated research park in the country and the Triangle area’s strongest submarket. Raleigh-Durham is one of the top five life science clusters in the nation and is benefitting from robust corporate relocations and in-migration to the region as companies and employees seek low cost of living, high quality of life and business friendly locales. The area is home to 12 colleges and universities, including Duke University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University.

The majority of the occupancy at Research Commons is made up of life sciences and life sciences-adjacent firms, the property provides the opportunity to deliver additional life sciences space based on the tenant roster, location, and structural features of existing buildings.

“Growing a meaningfully-sized life science business is one of Oxford’s highest conviction global investment strategies,” commented Andy Field, VP of Investments at Oxford Properties. “We believe that the Research Triangle is set to benefit from the secular tailwinds driving demand in the life science sector. This transaction will add the required infrastructure to help innovative firms at all stages of their life cycle bring life-changing therapeutics to market. We are thankful for the support shown by JLL Capital Markets and United Overseas Bank in helping us achieve this goal.”

The JLL Capital Markets team representing the seller was led by Directors John Mikels and Daniel Flynn, Senior Managing Director Ryan Clutter, Senior Director Chris Lingerfelt and Analyst Woody Flythe.

Financing efforts on behalf of Oxford were led by JLL Capital Market’s Senior Managing Director Aaron Niedermayer and Managing Director Roger Edwards.

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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