GI Partners Acquires Life Science Assets

237 Putnam Ave. Image courtesy of GI Partners

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based GI Partners has acquired four life science properties totaling more than 407,000 square feet on behalf of its Essential Tech + Science Fund (GI Partners ETS Fund LP), the company announced Wednesday.

The properties are Blackstone Science Square in Cambridge, Mass., a Class A, fully leased lab building, and the Peninsula Lab Collection, a portfolio of three life science lab buildings in South San Francisco and San Carlos, Calif.

The sellers of Blackstone Science Square were Carlyle Group and Brickman Associates, a GI Partners spokesperson told Commercial Property Executive.

The sellers of the other three properties were not disclosed, but media outlets reported the seller of 7000 Shoreline Court as Alexandria Real Estate Equities.

7000 Shoreline. Image courtesy of GI Partners

Blackstone Science Square, at 237 Putnam Ave. in Cambridge, is a 77,000-square-foot property that was converted to lab use and is currently fully leased to life science tenants that include several prominent biotechnology companies.

The Peninsula Lab Collection consists of three stabilized Class A lab properties: 7000 Shoreline Court and 341-343 Oyster Point Blvd. in South San Francisco and 75-125 Shoreway Road in San Carlos. The third property benefits from its location between the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University. The entire 330,000-square-foot portfolio is currently 100 percent leased.

Life science market still a magnet for investors

Since launching in 2021, the ETS Fund has acquired 18 properties totaling 2.5 million square feet. The fund is currently investing in a portfolio of data centers, life science properties, and “Always On” facilities in major U.S. markets.

As recently as early June, GI Partners announced the acquisition of a 479,000-square-foot building combining life science, data center and creative office uses, at 451 D. St. in Boston’s Seaport district. The former industrial property had been completed in 1909. The seller, Related Fund Management, retained a minority stake in the building.

The Bay Area’s life science market saw about 840,000 square feet of net absorption in the second quarter and about 1.1 million in the first half, according to a report from Kidder Mathews. Although this represents a relatively slow start to the year, lab space in the region has an average vacancy of just 3.2 percent.

San Mateo County had the highest gross absorption, 710,000 square feet, of any Bay Area submarket, with much of that coming from a 285,000-square-foot lease at Alexandria Real Estate’s 30 Rollins Road development in Millbrae, Calif.