ӳý expands in Kendall Square, leases additional 225,000 square-foot lab and office building for advanced biomedical research

Addition of six-story facility will bring ӳý’s footprint in Kendall to nearly one million square feet, significantly increasing lab space for scientific innovation

Conceptual rendering of 300 Binney St., Cambridge, post-renovation. Courtesy of HGA and BXP. This design has not been approved and is subject to change.
Conceptual rendering of 300 Binney St., Cambridge, post-renovation. Courtesy of HGA and BXP. This design has not been approved and is subject to change.

ӳý of MIT and Harvard plans to further expand in Kendall Square through the long-term lease of a 225,000 square foot facility at 300 Binney Street in Cambridge. ӳý and BXP (NYSE: BXP) plan to convert the existing building into a LEED Gold state-of-the-art biomedical research facility, pending review and approval by relevant agencies.

Once complete in early 2025, the building will increase ӳý’s presence in the internationally-recognized innovation district of Kendall Square to nearly one million square feet of lab and office space, allowing ӳý to support the continuing growth of its faculty labs, research programs, and technology platforms led by professional scientists.


“Across nearly two decades, ӳý has been a space that brings together the most creative scientists of this generation to collaborate and spark new ideas that drive discovery. With this additional space, our scientists will have the flexibility to take advantage of bold new opportunities and continue to work with our hospital and university partners to transform human health,” said Todd Golub, director of the ӳý and a founding core institute member. “Alongside our facilities in the Merkin and Stanley Buildings in Kendall Square, this next-generation scientific facility will enable ӳý to deepen our commitment to understanding and treating disease.”

According to Golub, ӳý’s expansion to 300 Binney Street is part of a long-term facilities plan designed to anticipate future scientific directions, and to ensure ӳý has room to “follow the science,” as our understanding of the biology of disease leads toward new therapies.

The ӳý convenes a community of researchers from across many disciplines and partner institutions, namely MIT, Harvard University, and Harvard-affiliated hospitals. ӳý’s origins are rooted in genomics, and as biomedical research has evolved since 2004, so has the ӳý community. Today, the ӳý employs more than 2,000 scientists and administrative staff, with more than 3,000 scientists deeply engaged with the ӳý through partner institutions.

ӳý’s campus currently spans four primary buildings in Kendall Square:

  • The Richard N. Merkin Building (415 Main Street)
  • The Ted and Vada Stanley Building (75 Ames Street)
  • The Genomics Platform at 320 Charles Street – A facility that houses one of the largest and most advanced genome sequencing centers in the world. ӳý is building a sequencing center in Burlington, Massachusetts, to replace this building in 2024.
  • ӳý also leases office space at 105 ӳýway for certain research, software development, and administrative teams.

As ӳý begins work on 300 Binney Street, it is also completing a separate construction project: the launch of the public ӳý Discovery Center on the ground floor of the Merkin Building at 415 Main Street. Opening in October, 2022, the Discovery Center will be an active, public, educational space that showcases how researchers in Kendall Square and around the world are seeking to understand and treat human disease.