San Diego Life Science Campus Lands Tenant

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Rendering of BioMed’s i3 campus in San Diego

San Diego—Illumina Inc. has signed a 10-year lease at BioMed Realty’s i3 campus, a 316,000-square-foot development currently under construction in the University Towne Centre life science market of San Diego, Calif.

A world leader in genomics, Illumina will move in sometime around July 2017, with the property serving as an expansion of its headquarters.

“The appeal of the property is i3 is situated right at the gateway of the Towne Center submarket, which is very prominent with lots of visibility. There’s a lot of signage, visibility and awareness for those occupying the building,” Tracy Murphy, BioMed Realty senior vice president, West Coast, told Commercial Property Executive. “In addition to that, we’ve committed to some progressive sustainability strategies so it’s very socially responsible and a lot of companies are committing to those types of assets on a go-forward basis.”

The i3 campus will consist of three 100,000-square-foot customizable buildings and will include a variety of indoor and outdoor amenities, fuel cell energy generation and operable windows.

According to Murphy, these elements will help i3 not only to meet, but to surpass the requirements for LEED Platinum certification.

The property is not only flexible, but also iconic in its design.

“We were very deliberate in that we wanted it to stand for not only Biomed, but the industry that we support,” Murphy said. “It’s a really great business plan for us and San Diego and we wanted to make sure it was communicated through real estate and design.”

Amenities at i3 include a high-end restaurant with catering functions, a marketplace with various price points, dedicated bike storage and a fitness center with showers and lockers. Outdoor yoga and other classes will also be available.

The lease agreement is the third new construction lease between BioMed Realty and Illumina over the last 15 months, following last year’s 155,000-square-foot lease at Granta Park in Cambridge, U.K., and the 2014 lease of 360,000 square feet at Lincoln Centre in Foster City, Calif.

“Expanding to i3 enables us to continue our growth in San Diego, our home city and a source of top talent in our industry,” Marc Stapley, Illumina executive vice president, chief administrative officer & chief financial officer, said in a prepared release. “i3 creates a near-term opportunity for us to accommodate our growing teams in a location very close to our headquarters, where we expect to reach full occupancy in the next year.”