Breakthrough Properties Opens San Diego Life Science Campus
Breakthrough Properties has debuted Torrey View, a 520,000-square-foot life science campus in San Diego’s Del Mar Heights district. The multi-building property, which is on 10 acres, is fully preleased.
Breakthrough Properties, a joint venture of Tishman Speyer and Bellco Capital, acquired the site in October 2020 and developed it into a research and development center that spans three buildings, along with a parking structure. The property has obtained LEED Gold certification.
Drug giant Pfizer’s oncology division leased 230,000 square feet in two Torrey View buildings. Global medical technology company Becton, Dickinson and Co. created a 220,000-square-foot center for bioscience research in a third building. Charles River Laboratories, Actio Biosciences and Architect Therapeutics are also tenants.
Building floorplates range between 17,400 and 46,700 square feet, and include a fitness space, meeting areas, all-hands conference facilities and dining venues. The property also offers park-like collaboration zones, a pickleball court, as well as surfboard and bike storage.
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Breakthrough developed Torrey View with co-equity partners Mitsui Fudosan America, Investment Management Corp. of Ontario and AP2. The developer tapped life science architectural firm Flad Architects and general contractor Clark Construction. JLL handled the leasing of the development.
Breakthrough is an active player in the sector, with a portfolio of more than 5 million square feet of life science space in operation or in the development pipeline in the U.S. and Europe. The company targets LEED Gold certification at its U.S. properties, as well as BREEAM Outstanding certification in all of its projects in the U.K. and the European Union.
In San Diego, the company’s portfolio includes Torrey Plaza, Callan Ridge and Governor Pointe, a two-story life science campus nearing completion.
Other Breakthrough assets include The 105, a facility fully leased by gene-editing company CRISPR Therapeutics, and One Milestone, two interconnected lab buildings under development at the Enterprise Research Campus, both in Boston. The company’s 2300 Market, an R&D building, is nearing completion in Philadelphia. StudioLabs by Breakthrough—a brand for hypergrowth users—is being launched in several new markets.
San Diego Life Science Development Still Hot
More than 4 million square feet of new life science developments are underway in the Greater San Diego market, preleased at a 39 percent rate, according to Cushman & Wakefield data. The majority of the inventory, some 64 percent, is spec space, with the remaining 36 percent build-to-suit. Also, 241,500 square feet of life science conversions of existing buildings are underway in the area.
Landlords that acquired sites at recent peak land pricing for life science development are still eager to complete their projects, Cushman & Wakefield notes. A decline in venture capital investment and banks less willing to originate development loans will temper development in the future, however.
As of the second quarter of 2024, San Diego’s life science real estate vacancy was 16.3 percent, up 350 basis points quarter-over-quarter and up 880 basis points year-over-year, Cushman & Wakefield reported. Sublease vacancy increased 20 basis points since the first quarter and 110 basis point since a year earlier.
Even so, San Diego County boasts a robust life sciences industry, employing more than 75,800 direct employees at more than 1,960 establishments in various subsectors. The largest employment sector is biotechnology, followed by research and testing. Life science R&D, medical laboratories and analytical instrument manufacturing all contributed to job creation in San Diego during the past year.
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