Healthpeak Properties is planning its third ground-up development in\u00a0San Diego\u00a0geared to life science office and lab tenants announced during the past year, the latest indicator of rising nationwide demand for biotech real estate.<\/p>\n
Officials of Healthpeak, among the nation\u2019s largest owners and developers of biotech and medical office properties, said the Denver-based company plans to break ground in the third quarter on Sorrento Gateway, with initial tenant move-ins expected in the first quarter of 2023.<\/p>\n
Plans call for a five-story building spanning 163,000 square feet to be built next door to an existing Healthpeak campus off Vista Sorrento Parkway in San Diego\u2019s Sorrento Mesa neighborhood. Tenants and expected development costs have not been announced, and Healthpeak representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoStar News.<\/p>\n
\u201cStrong market fundamentals and tenant relationships give us confidence to commence our next development in San Diego,\u201d Healthpeak CEO Scott Brinker said in a statement, noting Sorrento Gateway would be the company\u2019s third ground-up construction project aimed at life sciences firms that it has announced in San Diego since early 2020.<\/p>\n
Two earlier announced Healthpeak projects in the city\u2019s Torrey Pines neighborhood in La Jolla, The Boardwalk and\u00a0Callan Ridge<\/span><\/span>, have been fully preleased. Healthpeak said this week that San Diego-based pharmaceutical firm Turning Point Therapeutics, which develops cancer-related treatments, has leased the entirety of the developer\u2019s planned 185,000-square-foot Callan Ridge development, with move-in expected at the end of 2022.<\/p>\n Demand for life science office and lab space was on the rise nationally well before the coronavirus pandemic, which further boosted requirements for development facilities tied to vaccines and treatments. Healthpeak and its competitors, including Alexandria Real Estate Equities and BioMed Realty, have been\u00a0responding with new developments, renovations and acquisitions<\/span><\/span>\u00a0in several targeted cities.<\/p>\n A first-quarter report from brokerage JLL noted venture capital financings in the biotech sector reached $11.7 billion nationwide, up 35% from the prior quarter and 68% from the first quarter of 2020. The three largest hubs for biotech real estate \u2014 Boston, San Francisco and San Diego \u2014 together accounted for $8.3 billion or 72% of nationwide funding in the life science sector.<\/p>\n San Diego saw more than $1.5 billion in biotech-related venture funding, quadrupling the year-earlier figure and following a record $2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020. Other regions seeing significant annual funding growth in the first quarter included Washington, D.C., Seattle, Philadelphia and North Carolina\u2019s Raleigh Durham area, JLL reported.<\/p>\n San Diego\u2019s life science leasing volume more than tripled in the first quarter from a year prior, with 33 transactions topping 758,000 square feet. The region\u2019s life science vacancy rate stood at 4.8% and the availability rate was 5.1% at the end of the first quarter, both well below regional rates for general office properties.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n See Original Article:<\/p>\n