SAN DIEGO, CALIF. — Oxford Properties Group has acquired a nine-property, 13-building life sciences portfolio in San Diego. Oxford acquired the portfolio for $464 million. The seller was San Diego-based BioMed Realty, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. The portfolio includes 650,000 square feet of space, with 12 of the 13 buildings centrally located within San Diego’s Sorrento Valley and Sorrento Mesa submarkets. The properties are 98 percent leased. The portfolio features mainly one- to two-story buildings and a 60/40 life sciences-to-office ratio. The buildings’ features include modern mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems and ample tenant parking. According to Oxford Properties, Sorrento Valley and Sorrento Mesa have emerged as epicenters of life sciences growth within San Diego. The firm reports that San Diego recorded over 4 million square feet of leasing volume in 2021, which is an all-time high and 80 percent higher than in 2020. Because of record high demand and limited vacancy, asking rents in San Diego’s life sciences market have increased by 34 percent. The life sciences market in the area is anchored by research institutions and non-profits including San Diego State University, UC San Diego, Scripps Research and the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute. …
Life Sciences
SAN ANTONIO — Welcome Group, a Houston-based investment firm, has purchased two office and lab buildings in San Antonio totaling 124,291 square feet. The first building spans 80,431 square feet, sits on an 11.9-acre site and is leased by KCI USA Inc., a provider of wound care services and treatments. The second facility totals 43,860 square feet and was built in phases between 1987 and 1995. Frost Bank provided an undisclosed amount of financing for both acquisitions. Ryan Wassaff of Welcome Realty Advisors, along with internal agents Cole Bercher and John Wilson, represented Welcome Group in the deals. John Taylor of JLL and Luis Garza of Transwestern respectively represented the sellers of the first and second buildings.
BOSTON — Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co. has unveiled plans for a $700 million institute for genetic medicine in Boston’s Seaport District. The opening is slated for 2024. The company has signed a 334,000-square-foot lease at 15 Necco St., a 12-story healthcare and life sciences building that Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE: ARE) is developing. At the facility, Lilly will develop genetic medicines with a range of applications, including diabetes, immunology and central nervous system research. Curtis Cole, John Carroll III, Evan Gallagher, Tim Allen and Caitlin Mahoney of Colliers represented Eli Lilly in the deal. The site will also include a shared space modeled after Lilly Gateway Labs in San Francisco to support biotech startups in the Boston area. This area will afford users access to dedicated and configurable lab and office space and opportunities for collaboration with Lilly scientists. These companies are expected to generate as many as 150 additional new jobs once the space is fully occupied. The investment follows Lilly’s 2020 Prevail Therapeutics initiative, which centered on the launch of a gene therapy facility in New York City. Lilly projects that within five years, employment at the Boston facility will grow from 120 to …
Crescent Communities, Nuveen to Expand $500M Life Sciences Project Near North Carolina’s Research Triangle
by Katie Sloan
HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. — A joint venture between Crescent Communities and Nuveen Real Estate has acquired a 120-acre development site to expand The Yield, a $500 million life sciences development currently underway in Holly Springs, roughly 23 miles south of North Carolina’s Research Triangle. Crescent Communities broke ground on the project’s first phase of development in December 2021, which will include two 105,000-square-foot biomanufacturing buildings, 52,000 square feet of lab and office space and retail. Phase I is scheduled for delivery this summer. Crescent and Nuveen are set to break ground on the second phase of development later this year, which will expand the development through the addition of 2 million square feet of lab, office and manufacturing space. Further details on Phase II of the project were undisclosed. The Research Triangle remains a top life sciences market in the U.S., with recently announced projects including the development of a $1 billion life sciences campus in Morrisville; the acquisition and expansion of Research Commons, a life sciences campus within Research Triangle Park in Durham; and the redevelopment of a 110,500-square-foot life sciences property in Raleigh. John Brewer, Brian Carr and Ann-Stewart Patterson of CBRE are in charge of leasing for …
PHILADELPHIA — A joint venture between Chicago-based developers Sterling Bay and Harrison Street, as well as New York City-based Botanic Properties, will develop a 310,000-square-foot life sciences facility in Philadelphia’s University City neighborhood. The 13-story building will be situated on a 33,400-square-foot parcel at 3801 Chestnut St. The facility will house lab space to accommodate cell and gene therapy users. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2023 and to be complete in mid-2025.
Luminous Capital, Virtus Real Estate Buy R&D Building in Carlsbad, Plan Life Sciences Conversion
by Amy Works
CARLSBAD, CALIF. — Luminous Capital Management, in partnership with Austin, Texas-based Virtus Real Estate Capital, has acquired 2290 Cosmos Court, an industrial/R&D building in Carlsbad. Los Angeles-based Excelsior Partners sold the asset for $9.5 million, or $255 per square foot. The 37,300-square-foot building was vacant at the time of sale. Previously, ViaSat utilized the property for its global communications operations. The buyers plan to renovate the property the property for bioscience research and development, including the build out of wet lab and support space. The property features heavy power, ground-level loading and abundant parking. Completion of the planned upgrades is slated for early 2023. Virtus provided joint venture equity for the renovation and repositioning of the property. Rusty Williams, Chris Roth and Jake Rubendall of Lee & Associates represented the seller in the deal. John Chun and John Marshall of JLL arranged the equity joint venture between Luminous and Virtus. California Bank & Trust provided financing for the acquisition and conversion.
PHILADELPHIA — Los Angeles-based PCCP LLC has provided a $500 million loan to fund the redevelopment of the former PES oil refinery in South Philadelphia into a 15 million-square-foot logistics and life sciences campus that will be known as The Bellwether District. The borrower, a joint venture led by Hilco Redevelopment Partners, acquired the 1,300-acre property in 2020 out of bankruptcy. The transformation of the site includes the decommissioning of the refinery and significant demolition and remediation work, including the abatement of roughly 30,000 tons of asbestos. Redevelopment efforts initially commenced in June 2020. Site work and vertical construction are expected to commence this year, with the first tenants expected to occupy buildings in 2023.
COPPELL, TEXAS — Nashville-based medical consulting firm PathGroup has signed a 126,596-square-foot lease to occupy the entirety of 121 Corporate Center, an office and laboratory building in Coppell, located near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Dean Collins, Mark Collins, Jason Dodson, Michael Sessa and Jack Keenan of Cushman & Wakefield represented PathGroup in the lease negotiations. Nathan Durham and Duane Henley of Newmark represented the landlord, a partnership between Blackstone and Link Logistics Real Estate.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Newmark has arranged the $815 million sale of Charles Park, a two-building office complex and parking garage in Cambridge. The Davis Cos. and Principal Real Estate Investors sold the asset to an affiliate of Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (NYSE: ARE). Charles Park spans 408,259 square feet and consists of two Class A office buildings, One Rogers Street and One Charles Park. The property also includes a 656-space, seven-level parking garage. Alexandria plans to redevelop the two buildings into life sciences space, but further details of that project were not provided. Situated near Charles Park is the nearly 1 million-square-foot CambridgeSide complex, which is undergoing a residential and retail development. Charles Park is also located near two Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) subway stations, the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the new Cambridge Crossing mixed-use development and Massachusetts General Hospital. “Charles Park is well positioned along Kendall Square’s rapidly expanding First Street corridor with immediately recognizable architecture highlighted by its distinctive horseshoe-shaped façade,” says Edward Maher, vice chairman with Newmark. “The asset is further surrounded by an unmatched laboratory and technology mecca in the life sciences epicenter of the world.” Maher, along with Robert Griffin, …
ST. LOUIS — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the sale of EDGE@BRDG in St. Louis for $92 million. The 151,829-square-foot life sciences building is fully leased and serves as the headquarters of Benson Hill Biosystems, a food technology company. Completed in 2020, the property features office and lab space as well as a test kitchen, sterilization station and walk-in refrigeration units. The building is located at 1001 N. Warson Road within 39 North, a 600-acre district anchored by the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Michael Hanrahan, Josh McGee and Josh King of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Larson Capital Management. Chicago-based Harrison Street Real Estate Capital was the buyer.