BioTech Firm Gets New $95M HQ

SANTA MONICA, CA-The Lionstone Group, a Houston-based investment firm, has sold its ground leasehold interest on a four-acre parcel at 1800 Stewart St. in Santa Monica to biotech company Agensys Inc. Agensys plans to build a new 160,000-square-foot headquarters on the site.

The two buildings currently sitting on the site will be demolished for the $95-million project, which will be ready for occupancy by Agensys in early 2013. The biotech firm—which specializes in the development of proteins to fight cancer—will consolidate its six separate office, R&D, manufacturing, and laboratory facilities into the new development. Construction will begin this month on the project, which is designed to accommodate the firm’s rapid growth from 180 employees to more than 300 over the next three years, according to Agensys executive vice president of finance and operations, Paul Kanan.