Both the number of industrial property transactions and their total sales volume slipped in the U.S. in the first quarter of this year. However, a single enormous deal for California property owned by Genentech pushed the average sale price up 22% from the previous quarter, according to CommercialEdge's April 2024 national industrial report.

In total, the U.S. recorded sales volume of $9.97 billion for industrial property, with an average sales price of $147 per SF. However, the average would have been $130 per SF had it not been for the acquisition of Genentech's manufacturing facility in Vacaville from Roche for $1.2 billion in cash by Swiss company Lonza. That sale was for $2,810 per SF, CommercialEdge stated.

At 427,000 SF, the Vacaville site in California's Bay Area is one of the largest biologics manufacturing facilities in the world by volume. It has a total bioreactor capacity of around 330,000 liters. Lonza said the acquisition will increase its large-scale biologics manufacturing capacity for mammalian therapies and expand its network of facilities in the U.S. Lonza also plans to invest CHF 500 million ($550 million) to upgrade the facility.