Boston Biomedical May Have Buyer for Watertown Property, But Financial Woes Persist

Boston Biomedical Research Institute may have found a buyer for its property on Grove Street, but the sale may not solve the non-profit biotech group's financial problems.

Tufts Health Plan has put down a deposit of $200,000 on the property, which sits next to the Tufts' headquarters on Mt. Auburn Street, according to a report in the Boston Business Journal.

The institute was founded in 1968 and moved to Watertown in 1999. Recently, however, BBRI announced it was closing. 

In 1999, BBRI purchased bought 1.3-acre property for $2.3 million, a purchase that was financed with $17 million in bond sales underwritten by Massachusetts Development Finance Agency, the Boston Business Journal reports. BBRI still owes $12.4 million on those bonds, according to the report.

The sale, however, may not cover the debt, according to a second Boston Business Journal report. On Tuesday, officials from BBRI told bond holders that the institute will not be able to completely pay them back. 

The proposed price for the propety is $10.6 million, according to the Boston Business Journal.

The sale requires clearing more than the usual hurdles for a real estate transaction. It will be reviewed by the Massachusetts Attorney General's office and must be approved by both BBRI’s board of trustees and the Supreme Judicial Court, according to the Boston Business Journal.

Read the entire Boston Business Journal story here.