Recent transactions show the pandemic accelerated the demand for life science space and attracted new entrants on the lending side. A recent example is the $400-plus million construction loan secured for Genesis Marina, a to-be-built waterfront class-A-plus life science campus totaling approximately 570,000 square feet in Brisbane.

Genesis Marina is located on an 8.7-acre site within South San Francisco’s life science cluster, which is rated the number two U.S. market. With limited nearby new development, Genesis Marina will provide a trophy life science campus offering.

“The financing opportunity for the Genesis Marina campus attracted a tremendous amount of interest as best-in-class life science developments are highly coveted at the moment,” notes JLL’s Tim Wright.

Working on behalf of Phase 3 Real Estate Partners Inc. and Bain Capital Real Estate, JLL placed the construction loan with Barings LLC. The JLL team representing the borrower was led by Wright, Todd Sugimoto and Daniel Pinkus.

“An aging population is driving greater demand for medical innovation and onshoring is driving accelerated demand for U.S. lab and pharmaceutical manufacturing space, indicting the long-term strength of this sector,” Sugimoto adds.