Summary: The acquisition of commercial real estate assets requires among other things a significant amount of effort to understand the needs, wherewithal and risks of each tenant. The process involves a detailed understanding of the tenant’s business operations and financial condition. Ultimately it requires the investor to be both part consultant and part security analyst in order to make appropriate decisions on the structure of and capital commitment to the lease. Every so often we come across tenants that for a variety of reasons may be outside of our comfort zone – whether it be business model, balance sheet or other factor. TriGate Property Partners III, L.P. (“TriGate”) acquired a 192,300 sf empty office building in greater Boston in April 2016 at a compelling initial basis. The building, named One Upland (the “Property” or “Upland”), was a former manufacturing facility built for Polaroid and a significant amount of capital was needed to upgrade the facility to current building standards. TriGate’s initial plan was to fully renovate the building’s core systems and amenities to develop a creative office environment and then to lease it as a multitenant building, but during the underwriting process a young company with a significant amount of cash on its balance sheet, zero revenues and a world changing business proposition surfaced as a potential tenant. At the time, we were most worried if the prospective tenant would survive long enough to allow us to exit the investment given their enormous cash burn rate. However, we did realize one thing during the lease due diligence process: If even half of what the company told us was possible, the world’s medical community would have many potent new weapons to combat disease in the future. Little did we know that this small venture capital backed company - Moderna Therapeutics - would someday make good on its promise and become a household name.