This summer, BioMed Realty Trust Inc. closed on its purchase of two parcels of land comprising approximately 28 adjacent acres in San Diego. The price was approximately $47 million. Concurrently, the company also entered into a long-term ground lease for both sites with Advanced BioHealing Inc., a regenerative-medicine company and subsidiary of Shire plc that develops, manufactures and commercializes living cell-based therapies.
Advanced BioHealing intends to construct office, laboratory, warehouse and manufacturing facilities totaling in excess of 150,000 square feet on the site, which will also be able to accommodate expansion to a potential total of 800,000 feet. At the time of the deal, Kevin Rakin, Shire’s president of regenerative medicine, said that the company in its expansion strategy wants to build its presence in the San Diego area.
In a separate deal, over in the La Jolla area of San Diego, Hines and its joint venture partner—a consortium of institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management—kicked off construction on a 13-story, 415,000-square-foot office building in the University Towne Center submarket. When the firm first started planning the project, sources involved in the deal said they had a “bullish attitude” toward San Diego and would “continue to be active in the area.”
Even banks, like locally based Regents Bank, are choosing to expand there; Regents recently demonstrated that with its merger of California Community Bank. The lender has also doubled its lending limit of $5 million, and it could go higher if necessary, through its recently-cemented relationship with its parent, Grandpoint Bank.
Steven Sefton, president of Regents, tells REAL ESTATE FORUM that the bank is “bullish on the local real estate market, particularly owner-occupied conventional loans as well as SBA 504, as we see that the San Diego economy is positioned for long-term success. This is an opportune time to invest in local real estate.”
So, what is it about San Diego that is making both end-user companies and investment firms continue to expand in the area?
…For the rest of the story, go to the September 2012 issue of Real Estate Forum online.
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
