BioMed Realty Buys $135M Bay Area Office Property

Emeryville Center for Innovation

BioMed Realty has increased its footprint in the San Francisco Bay Area with the acquisition of Emeryville Center for Innovation in Emeryville, Calif. The life sciences real estate company purchased the 250,000-square-foot office building from Novartis in a sale-leaseback transaction valued at approximately $135 million.

Located at 5300 Chiron Way, Emeryville Center first opened its doors in 1999. The six-story building, however, is just part of the purchase; the deal also includes adjacent developable land parcels. BioMed expects to make use of the extra acreage gradually. “We plan to offer in excess of 1 million square feet of space to innovative tenants including biotech and other laboratory users,” Denis Sullivan, executive vice president & chief investment officer with BioMed Realty, said in a prepared statement.

Additionally, per terms of the transaction, Novartis will continue to occupy its space under a one-year lease agreement. Ultimately, BioMed is set to redevelop the office building, transforming it into a premier, state-of-the-art laboratory and office destination designed to accommodate multiple tenants.

High-demand destination

When BioMed decides to move forward with an expansion at Emeryville Center, the company will almost certainly be met with a receptive audience. The San Francisco Bay Area is second on the list of the leading life sciences clusters in the U.S., as noted in a recent CBRE report.

“A record $4.9 billion in venture capital funding for the Bay Area life sciences industry, as well as an active IPO market, likely will keep market fundamentals very tight in the Bay Area,” per the report.

BioMed hasn’t announced any specific construction plans for the land at Emeryville Center. However, in advance of the closing of the acquisition, the company met with City of Emeryville officials to discuss a development agreement for the Chiron Planned Unit Development.

Images courtesy of Yardi Matrix