Sonoma Bio Leases 83 KSF for Seattle Life Science Facility

501 Elliott Ave. W.

Biotechnology startup Sonoma Biotherapeutics Inc. has signed a long-term lease to create a biomanufacturing and R&D facility at Unison Elliott Bay, a three-building life science and technology campus underway in Seattle. JLL and Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant.

“We’re pleased there are so many companies in the Seattle area driving innovation to solve big challenges facing human health. We’re also accustomed to navigating operations in thriving life science corridors given our footprint in Seattle and South San Francisco. Talent, efficiency, and close collaboration are key to maximizing our operations and we’re building a team and facility to support this,” Sonoma Bio CTO Heidi Hagen told Commercial Property Executive.

Unison Elliott Bay is taking shape as the redevelopment of three office buildings at 301, 401 and 501 Elliott Ave. W. into more than 300,000 square feet of Class A office and life science space. Sonoma Bio will occupy 83,000 square feet at the campus’ third building and serve as anchor tenant for the property owned by Office Properties Income Trust. The RMR Group began the redevelopment project in March, with completion expected in 2023.

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After the revamp, the future home of Sonoma Bio will comprise 110,000 square feet of space, featuring high-end lab equipment and infrastructure. Located at 501 Elliott Ave. W. in the Uptown submarket, the facility is within 2 miles of downtown Seattle and less than 2 miles from the 1.6-acre parcel where BioMed Realty will develop a 616,000-square-foot life science and technology complex.

Cushman & Wakefield Managing Director Steve Lico and JLL Managing Director Kris Richey Curtis represented  the tenant, while Tim Jones and Joe Gowan of JLL assisted RMR. Jones and Gowan also form the project’s leasing team.

Seattle’s life science scene

Seattle’s life science sector continues to flourish. The metro ranked among the nation’s largest life science talent and construction clusters in the first quarter of 2022, with over $2.1 billion in investment, a vacancy rate of 7 percent and nearly 50 percent change in its six-year rent growth, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report. The trend is fueled by increasing demand, with available space struggling to keep up with the industry’s growth.

Sonoma Bio CEO Jeff Bluestone acknowledged the facility’s potential in this expanding market. Bluestone said, in a prepared statement, this center will create highly-skilled scientific, engineering and manufacturing jobs in the Seattle area, taking advantage of the deep local capabilities and expertise.