Planners Approve 1.4M SF Bay Area Life Science Campus

A 1.4M SF life science campus is moving forward to the south of San Francisco, an area that continues to grow as a leading life science hub.

A partnership between DivcoWest, a San Francisco-based unit of DivCore Capital, and Woodstock Development has received approval from the Planning Commission in Burlingame to build the campus at 1200-1340 Old Bayshore Highway on the city’s Bayfront.

The developers are planning a five-building complex on the site, which currently is occupied by a Holiday Inn Express and a few commercial buildings, according to a report in the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

The project, known as Peninsula Crossing, will include three 11-story office research buildings and two parking garages. The commission approved a zoning change to permit buildings taller than 65 feet, the previous limit.

The developers purchased the 13 parcels on the site encompassing 12 acres for $108M.

The Peninsula Crossing project will feature a 1,500-foot extension of the Bayshore Trail and the planting of 230 new trees. The plans include a public plaza and 5.5 acres of public areas for hiking and shoreline exploration on the Trial, which had stopped at the site but now will “meander along the shore,” linking the bay to the urban fabric of the city, the report said.

According to the Peninsula Crossing website, the project sits on 12 acres of “underutilized waterfront” in the heart of the Bay Area.

The project design, which follows the vision set out by the recently adopted Burlingame General Plan, aims to “set the bar for resilient development in the area,” according to the marketing materials.

The developers will invest in long-term sea-level rise protection by importing more than 100,000 cubic yards of soil to raise grade and increase resiliency. The developers estimate that raising the grade will offer a “100-year time horizon of sea-level protection for the community.”

The campus also will “pursue robust clean energy standards with primarily electric-powered buildings.”

“The proposed design aims to reimagine the site as a dynamic life sciences campus and thriving public realm that offers local retail, ample outdoor gathering areas, a restored creek and wetland, and new pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, including a missing piece of the Bay Trail that, once completed, will help connect adjacent communities along the Bay frontage for the first time,” the website marketing says.

The extension of the Bayshore Trail will connect Burlingame to more than 350 miles of trails encircling the Bay, the website said.