--- title: "Cambridge & Kendall Square, Boston — Class A submarket" description: "Life sciences capital of the world." canonical: https://classa.info/cities/boston/cambridge-kendall pageType: neighborhood lastUpdated: 2026-04-15T00:00:00.000Z license: "CC BY 4.0 with attribution to Class A Atlas (https://classa.info)." --- > Cambridge & Kendall Square is a trophy-tier Class A submarket of Boston with average asking rent around $110/sqft/yr. ## TL;DR - World's deepest life-sciences cluster. - Lab trades at premiums to office. - MIT and Harvard adjacency drives talent. # Cambridge & Kendall Square, Boston — Class A submarket *Life sciences capital of the world.* · Tier: trophy · Avg rent: $110/sqft/yr ## TL;DR - World's deepest life-sciences cluster. - Lab trades at premiums to office. - MIT and Harvard adjacency drives talent. ## Overview Cambridge and Kendall Square hold the world's deepest life-sciences cluster. Lab and office trade at meaningful premiums to Boston-side [Class A](/glossary/class-a). Vacancy in trophy lab is structurally tight. ## Tenant profile Pharma, biotech, gene therapy, venture capital. ## Typical specification 20-30,000 sqft floor plates with lab-ready capability. ## Transit MBTA Red Line (Kendall/MIT, Central, Harvard). Strong walking and biking commute culture. ## Amenities MIT campus, Charles River, Cambridgeside. ## Comparable buildings - **100 Binney Street** [](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=100%20Binney%20Street%2C%20100%20Binney%20Street%2C%20Cambridge%2C%20MA%2002142%2C%20Cambridge%20%26%20Kendall%20Square%2C%20Boston%2C%20United%20States&query_place_id=ChIJKWASyKRw44kRsgkjYBOr5ao) - **238 Main Street** [](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=238%20Main%20Street%2C%20238%20Main%20Street%2C%20Cambridge%2C%20MA%2002142%2C%20Cambridge%20%26%20Kendall%20Square%2C%20Boston%2C%20United%20States&query_place_id=EioyMzggTWFpbiBTdCAjMjM4LCBDYW1icmlkZ2UsIE1BIDAyMTQyLCBVU0EiHxodChYKFAoSCXVpTsCAd-OJESouOzQyj5YPEgMyMzg) ## Where Cambridge & Kendall Square sits in Boston Cambridge & Kendall Square is one of 6 Class A submarkets we cover in Boston, classified as [trophy tier](/topics/trophy-asset-selection) with an average asking rent around $110/sqft/yr. Compared with the broader Boston Class A stock, Cambridge & Kendall Square typically attracts Pharma, biotech, gene therapy, venture capital and competes most directly with the city's other trophy submarkets on building specification, transit access, and [amenitisation](/glossary/amenitisation). Adjacent submarkets to study alongside Cambridge & Kendall Square: [Financial District](/cities/boston/financial-district), [Seaport](/cities/boston/seaport), [Back Bay](/cities/boston/back-bay), [Kendall Square](/cities/boston/kendall-square). The full Boston submarket atlas is at [/cities/boston](/cities/boston). ## Topic deep-dives for Cambridge & Kendall Square For an institutional Class A occupier evaluating Cambridge & Kendall Square, the highest-leverage analyses to commission next are the rent benchmark, the concession-package comparable, and the ESG performance baseline. Class A Atlas covers each as a dedicated topic page for this submarket: - [Cambridge & Kendall Square — ](/cities/boston/cambridge-kendall/rents-and-availability) - [Cambridge & Kendall Square — ](/cities/boston/cambridge-kendall/tenant-profile) - [Cambridge & Kendall Square — ](/cities/boston/cambridge-kendall/transit-and-commute) - [Cambridge & Kendall Square — ](/cities/boston/cambridge-kendall/amenity-and-lifestyle) - [Cambridge & Kendall Square — ](/cities/boston/cambridge-kendall/trophy-and-comparables) - [Cambridge & Kendall Square — ](/cities/boston/cambridge-kendall/fit-out-and-spec) ## Related glossary Terminology specific to Boston Class A leasing and to the trophy tier: [Class A](/glossary/class-a), [Trophy asset](/glossary/trophy-asset), [Effective rent](/glossary/effective-rent), [Concession package](/glossary/concession-package), [TI allowance](/glossary/ti-allowance), [Submarket tier](/glossary/submarket-tier). ## Editorial provenance Reviewed by [**Miriam Hollander**](/about/authors/miriam-hollander) — Lead market analyst. Last updated 2026-04-15. See our [methodology](/about/methodology) and [editorial standards](/about/editorial-standards). ### Primary sources for this page - [CBRE Marketview reports](https://www.cbre.com/insights) — CBRE - [JLL Office Insight](https://www.jll.com/en/trends-and-insights) — JLL - [Cushman & Wakefield Marketbeat](https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/insights) — Cushman & Wakefield - [Savills World Research](https://www.savills.com/research_articles/) — Savills - [Colliers Global Office Outlook](https://www.colliers.com/en/research) — Colliers [Full sources index](/about/sources) · [Submit a correction](/about/corrections) ## Related topics - [**Class A Lease Negotiation**](/topics/class-a-lease-negotiation) — How to negotiate a Class A office lease — the playbook from LOI to signed deal. - [**Hybrid Workplace Strategy**](/topics/hybrid-workplace-strategy) — How to size, structure, and lease a Class A office for a hybrid workforce. - [**ESG / LEED for Tenants**](/topics/esg-leed-tenants) — How tenants evaluate, negotiate, and report on ESG performance in a Class A office lease. - [**Cross-border Expansion**](/topics/cross-border-expansion) — How to run a coordinated Class A office search across multiple geographies. - [**Fit-out Capex**](/topics/fit-out-capex) — How to budget, sequence, and govern Class A office [fit-out](/topics/fit-out-capex)">fit-out capex. - [**Lease vs Flex**](/topics/lease-vs-flex) — When premium flex (coworking, [managed office](/glossary/managed-office)) beats a conventional Class A lease — and vice versa. --- Citation: Source: Class A Atlas (https://classa.info/cities/boston/cambridge-kendall), updated 2026-04-15T00:00:00.000Z.