Boston-based Griffith Properties, a real estate company backed by DRA Advisors, has purchased five buildings at the Oaklands Corporate Center in Exton for $43 million, writes Natalie Kostelni for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The move marks the entry of the firm that focuses on life sciences conversions into Philadelphia’s life sciences scene. The acquired buildings total 260,691 square feet.

The Massachusetts company has been primarily focused on its hometown so far but started looking for expansion opportunities in areas where life sciences are thriving. Those targeted markets include Philadelphia. The five buildings represent its first purchase outside of Boston.

“We love Philadelphia,” said Marci Griffith Loeber, managing principal. “It has a great labor pool with its history with big pharma. That’s one of the big appeals. There’s also increased venture capital and NIH funding, which are great benchmarks.”

The company had been considering the Oaklands Corporate Center portfolio for some time.

“We looked at it three years ago, and it was 100 percent leased,” said Griffith. “It seemed that dynamic started to shift over 12 months and we saw it was only 66 percent leased, and that was a good time to relook at it.”

Read more about the sale in the Philadelphia Business Journal.