Joel Marcus, chairman and CEO of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), joined Nareit for a video interview at REITworld 2017.
Alexandria is the largest REIT uniquely focused on collaborative science and technology campuses in urban innovation clusters.
Alexandria has been honored for its commitment to the health and wellbeing of its tenants and employees. Marcus discussed the tangible benefits of these programs to the company. He pointed out that research shows that companies that invest in sustainability and wellness have strong returns on investment.
Marcus was asked about the keys to Alexandria’s year-over-year revenue growth of more than 20 percent through the end of the third quarter.
“Tenants have come to us over the past year, and this year in particular, wanting to renew at today’s rates two or three years in advance,” he said. “That’s very unheard of.”
Marcus also offered his take on the possibility of publicly traded real estate companies owning a great share of the biotech real estate market in the future.
“The ability to deliver the goods makes a huge difference to” tenants in the life sciences field, Marcus said.