Alexandria Real Estate Reports Increased Losses, Slow Leasing in Q1

The largest life sciences real estate investment trust (REIT) in the country continues to struggle with vacancies and poor balance sheet performance.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities posted first-quarter earnings results on Tuesday showing just how saturated the market for lab space is, as funds from operations (FFO) and net losses snowballed into a disposition of assets and vexation among company executives.

Joel Marcus, Alexandria’s executive chairman and founder, lamented the attitude toward scientific research from the Trump administration and the larger trend in which growth in artificial intelligence has been prioritized, despite its inability to take the place of biomedical research.

“We are motivated each and every day by our solemn mission to enable this precious life science industry, one of the most treasured innovative industries on the face of the planet, to discover and bring to patients life-saving and life-changing therapies,” Marcus said during Tuesday’s earnings call. “How many of our friends, loved ones, still suffer from the likes of Parkinson’s, ALS, pancreatic, colon and breast cancer?”

Marcus pointed out one recent negative development affecting the U.S. life sciences industry. On Monday, the Trump administration fired the entire independent board that oversees the National Science Foundation, which has advised the president and Congress on matters involving science and engineering policy, including contract awards, since 1950.

The life sciences sector’s slow downfall was reflected in Alexandria’s first-quarter earnings. About 72 percent of its leasing activity was from existing tenants, totaling 647,356 square feet in the first quarter, down from the 1.2 million square feet leased during the fourth quarter of 2025. 

Things were looking up a bit for development and redevelopment space, as Alexandria signed 117,935 square feet in that area, up 135 percent from the average over the last five quarters.

About 747,000 square feet of leases are expected to turn over in 2026, with about 45 percent of that expected to go vacant in the second quarter, according to the earnings report.

Meanwhile, FFO hit $295.9 million in the first quarter of 202, down from both $368.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 and $392 million in the first quarter of 2025, according to the REIT. Net losses hit $358.9 million in the first three months of the year.

The net losses have been steadily exacerbating over the last few quarters, with $368.5 million lost in the fourth quarter of 2025, an increase from the $234.9 million seen in the third quarter of 2025 and the $109.6 million recorded in the second quarter of 2025.

Revenue is also down. Total revenue for the first quarter was $671 million, compared to $754.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 and $758.1 million in the first quarter of 2025.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.