GI Partners Recognizes Mt. Eden’s Rare Conversion Opportunity

GI Partners recently purchased Mt. Eden Research Park for $155 million. Mt. Eden presented a rare life sciences conversion opportunity with 54 percent of the 81 percent leased property already occupied by biotechnology tenants Illumina and RefleXion Medical.

The six-building R&D/life sciences campus totals 369,986 square feet in Hayward, CA. Completed between 1999 and 2001, the one- and two-story buildings are located along the Central I-880 Corridor at 25801, 25821, 25841, 25861, 25881 and 25901 Industrial Blvd. The 24.75-acre site at the base of the San Mateo Bridge benefits from proximity to top research universities such as Berkeley and Stanford, and an educated Bay Area labor pool.

JLL represented the seller, BentallGreenOak, and procured the buyer. The JLL team representing the seller was led by Will Connors, Rob Hielscher, Michael Leggett, Adam Lasoff, Erik Hanson, Daniel Renz, David Dokko and Michael Manas.

“The amount of interest we received in Mt. Eden was truly astounding,” says Hielscher. “Life sciences is currently one of the most in-favor asset classes, and with limited product available, the properties that do come to market are receiving record pricing and interest from the investment community.”

Additionally, JLL placed the $114 million acquisition financing through TPG Real Estate. The JLL debt placement team handling the acquisition financing efforts was led by Kevin MacKenzie, Bruce Ganong, Brian Torp and Taylor Gimian.

“Following a similar trend to the equity market, debt capital is highly competitive for life sciences product,” says MacKenzie.

The Bay Area is the number two U.S. life sciences research market. Tenant demand for life sciences space is outpacing supply, and demand drivers such as an aging population and increased focus on health will sustain demand for the foreseeable future.