Hong Kong Firm Buys One Winthrop Square For $75M

The life sciences affiliate of a Hong Kong business conglomerate is bullish on Boston. Nan Fung Life Sciences Real Estate acquired One Winthrop Square, a 116K SF office building in downtown Boston, for $75M, the company announced Tuesday.

The building’s previous owner, MAPFRE Insurance, bought the building in 2015 for $55M. The five-story building is next to MP Boston’s Winthrop Center, currently under construction, and blocks from South Station.

“We look forward to bringing more unique opportunities for life science businesses to grow in the City of Boston and working with the city to continue supporting this important industry,” Nan Fung Life Sciences Real Estate CEO Matthew Powers said in a statement. “There is a symbiotic opportunity for the city to accommodate the growing and important life science industry, but there is an unmet need for high-quality life science space and we are proud to be able to provide that for companies looking to grow and establish themselves in Boston.”

NFLSRE opened its first U.S. office in Boston in November and has already acquired two properties. The Winthrop Square acquisition comes a little more than a month after the firm bought 51 Sleeper St. from Brookfield for $115M. The life science subsidiary has a $1.5B capital commitment from its parent company, Nan Fung Group, to invest in the life sciences sector.