BURLINGAME, CALIF. — Gemini Rosemont Commercial Real Estate has acquired Peninsula Life Science Center in Burlingame from Sansome Street Advisors and Gordon Brothers for $59.3 million in an all-cash transaction. The acquisition was fully funded in partnership with Gemini Investments, an investment company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Located at 1828 El Camino Real, the eight-story building features 65,804 square feet of office space. At the time of sale, the property was 98 percent leased and anchored by three life sciences tenants. Built in 1974 and most recently renovated in 2022, the property features floor-to-ceiling windows, an above-market parking ratio and a nearby BART train stop. Seth Siegel, Steve Hermann and Ryan Venezia of Cushman & Wakefield represented the sellers, while Gemini Rosemont was self-represented in the transaction. David Wilson, a property manager with Gemini Rosemont, will manage the asset.
Life Sciences
ORANGEBURG, N.Y. — CBRE has brokered the $12 million sale of a 38,400-square-foot life sciences facility located at 25 Corporate Drive in Orangeburg, about 25 miles north of Manhattan. Charles Berger, Elli Klapper, Mark Silverman and Jeremy Wernick of CBRE represented the seller, an entity doing business as 25 Corporate Drive LLC, in the transaction. The team also procured the buyer, Solomon Builders, which acquired the property via a 1031 exchange. At the time of sale, the property was fully leased on a triple-net basis to Scapa North America, a subsidiary of global engineering firm Schweitzer-Mauduit International.
JLL Arranges $290M Construction Loan for Life Sciences Project in Philadelphia’s University City Neighborhood
by Jeff Shaw
PHILADELPHIA — JLL Capital Markets has arranged a $290 million construction loan for project partners Gattuso Development Partners and Vigilant Holdings of New York to build a new research facility and life sciences development in the heart of Philadelphia’s University City submarket. The development will be the largest life sciences research and lab facility in the city, according to JLL. Located at 3201 Cuthbert St., the 11-story development features 519,647 square feet of wet lab and dry space, 11,908 square feet of street-level retail space and 137 underground parking stalls. SmartLabs and Drexel University have preleased 45 percent of the lab space. This will be SmartLab’s first location in a market outside of San Francisco or Boston. Infrastructure will include lab-friendly column spacing, expanded floor-to-floor heights, an HVAC system designed specifically for lab research, best-practice chemical storage space and ph neutralization capability, and six enclosed loading docks. Robert A.M. Stern Architects designed the property to meet LEED Gold certification. University City spans 2.4 square miles and is home to one of the largest concentrations of health systems, teaching institutions, life sciences, biotech and pharmaceutical companies in the world. “We believe the project validates Philadelphia’s emergence as a global hub for …
Square Mile Capital, Bank OZK Arrange $202.6M Construction Loan for Bioterra Life Sciences Development in San Diego
by Amy Works
SAN DIEGO — Square Mile Capital has closed a $202.6 million loan to finance the construction of Bioterra, a life sciences development in San Diego’s Sorrento Mesa submarket. Bank OZK co-originated the loan. Longfellow Real Estate Partners is developing the 316,000-square-foot project. In August, Longfellow broke ground on the six-story campus that will feature lab and office space and three stories of subterranean parking. The property will offer a first-floor coffee bar, conference facilities, full-service gym with outdoor space for fitness classes and a full-service restaurant/café. Aldon Cole and Patrick Burger of JLL’s San Diego office arranged the financing.
By Andrew Chused, founding partner, head of investments, Hilco Redevelopment Partners From the nation’s beginning to modern times, Philadelphia has been a bellwether city with a proud legacy of leading the nation to many of its firsts, including the country’s inaugural medical school, library, hospital, business school and stock exchange. In this city of firsts, Hilco Redevelopment Partners (HRP) is unlocking and reinventing a large portion of the city: the former 1,300-acre Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) site on the city’s southwest side. Not only is the redevelopment of this site transforming a relic of the city’s industrial age into a new, sustainable economy for the first time, but the project will also transform the way logistics and life sciences companies grow in southwest Philadelphia. An Economic Hub The site, aptly named The Bellwether District, represents a new ecosystem for a variety of tenants, including logistics, e-commerce and life sciences. Located in the shadows of University City and along the Schuylkill River, the project will create over 32,000 jobs and serve as an economic catalyst that drives growth to the city and region for generations to come. Upon its acquisition of the property in June of 2020, HRP quickly began the …
DURHAM, N.C. — A joint fund managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Lincoln Harris is acquiring TBC, a 445,000-square-foot life sciences property located on Stirrup Creek Drive in Durham. Previously owned in part by Lincoln Harris, the campus is part of the Triangle Business Center and adjacent to Research Triangle Park. Tenants at the property, which comprises five single-story buildings, include DuPont, Carsgen Therapeutics, Brightview Technologies, HemoSonics and Charles River Labs. The campus also includes a newly completed, 14,000-square-foot amenity center featuring a fitness center, outdoor recreational space, shower facilities and lounge and conference space. The seller and terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — Oldham Goodwin has sold the Westinghouse Building at Providence Park, a 175,752-square-foot life sciences facility in College Station. Oldham Goodwin acquired the facility, which was originally built in 1983 as a manufacturing plant for Westinghouse Electronic Systems Group, in 2016. At that point, the facility had been shuttered since 1999. Dallas-based Big Sky Medical Real Estate purchased the asset for an undisclosed price.
BURLINGTON, MASS. — MetLife Investment Management has acquired Burlington BioCenter, a 109,085-square-foot life sciences facility located about 15 miles northwest of Boston, for $103 million. The facility was converted to life sciences from office usage in 2019 and was fully leased at the time of sale. Robert Griffin, Edward Maher, Matthew Pullen and Samantha Hallowell of Newmark represented the seller, a partnership between The Gutierrez Co. and GEM Realty Capital, in the transaction. David Douvadjian Sr. and Timothy O’Donnell, also with Newmark, arranged an undisclosed amount of acquisition financing on behalf of the buyer.
LEXINGTON, MASS. — Locally based biotechnology firm Dicerna Pharmaceuticals has signed a 107,238-square-foot life sciences lease expansion at its Hayden Avenue Campus in Lexington, located north of Boston. The tenant, which has operated out of the site since 2014, currently occupies more than 90,000 square feet. The expansion brings Dicerna’s total footprint in Lexington to more than 275,000 square feet. Boston-based King Street Properties owns the Hayden Avenue Campus.
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO AND SAN CARLOS, CALIF. — JLL Capital Markets has arranged $213.4 million in financing for a five-building life sciences portfolio in South San Francisco and San Carlos. The borrower is an affiliate of GI Partners. Kevin MacKenzie, Brian Torp, Alex Witt and Samuel Godfrey of the JLL Capital Markets Debt Advisory team secured the seven-year, fixed-rate loan through a life insurance company. Loan proceeds were used to finance the assets acquired via a recent Sale, which JLL also arranged. Totaling 325,977 square feet, the buildings are located at 7000 Shoreline Court and 341-343 Oyster Point Boulevard in South San Francisco and 75 and 125 Shoreway Road in San Carlos.