Prologis to Build San Francisco Life Science Campus

Image by Sven Mieke via Unsplash

Prologis intends to develop a two-building, 550,000-square-foot office and laboratory campus on three adjacent properties it owns in South San Francisco, Calif., San Francisco Business Times first reported. To that end, the firm has submitted an application with the city, seeking to merge the sites, which total 4.7 acres, and replace the existing warehouses with two eight- and 10-story buildings, alongside a nine-story, 827-space parking garage.

Following the project’s approval, Prologis will demolish all existing construction at 101-150 and 170 Associated Road as well as 175 Sylvester Road. The parcels on Associated Road will become the development site of the complex’s 340,600-square-foot West Building. On Sylvester Road, the developer plans to build the 210,430-square-foot East Building, as well as the above-ground parking garage. The properties will be connected through a landscaped plaza. DGA is leading the project’s architectural design.

Slated for redevelopment

Prologis acquired the three sites in 2014, 2021 and 2022, respectively, according to CommercialEdge information. On-site construction currently includes:

• A 175,187-square-foot industrial building at 175 Sylvester Road that was constructed in 1953. At present, the space is leased to Cruise and Sunbelt Rentals. The owner purchased the building and its surrounding lot in 2014.
• A 27,331-square-foot distribution center at 101-150 Associated Road that is occupied by BF Imports and Simex International. Prologis acquired the property in 2021 for $11.5 million.
• An additional 20,040 square feet of warehouse space at 170 Associated Road. The firm picked up the asset in 2022 for $15 million.

A lively life science market

The plots are just south of 100 E. Grand Ave., another Prologis parcel where the firm plans to build a recently entitled 600,000-square-foot life science campus. Located in South San Francisco’s East Side district, the complex will be within 2 miles of a dense cluster of life science and industrial properties, including BioMed Realty’s 2.2 million-square-foot biotech campus that is also home to an Amgen facility.

Owing to its wealth of research universities, hospitals and biotech headquarters, the Bay Area remains one of the nation’s largest life science markets across nearly all of its major fundamentals. Data from a fourth quarter 2022 Newmark report shows that the region’s pipeline has more than doubled year-over-year to 7.7 million square feet at the end of December, while investments totaled roughly $8.7 billion in Q4.

And the Bay Area’s life science pipeline has just become larger, as Longfellow Real Estate Partners recently broke ground on a 315,000-square-foot lab and office project in Milbrae. Completion is expected in the third quarter of 2024.