A San Diego building is filling up with biotech tenants as the push to turn downtown into a new life sciences hub continues.
genesis san diego, an eight-story building at 1155 Island Ave., announced this week that it has leased half of its premises. The approximately 200,000 square foot building will feature built-in wet labs and offices for venture-backed companies.
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The conversion of the former Thomas Jefferson Law School will be completed in 2022, and Genesis won its first lease in June of that year.
The newest tenant, local life sciences company AnaBios, has signed on for 20,000 square feet of space. The company is engaged in drug development and disease research based on human tissues and cells.
It joins Novolon Biosciences, Excelos and Native Microbiology in the downtown wet lab, located around the corner from Petco Park and just off the Blue and Orange lines of light rail. The East Village site is also a short distance from the University of California, San Diego’s Park & Market Education Center.
Commercial real estate and investment firm JLL represented the landlord, Phase 3 Real Estate Partners, in the lease, and AnaBios was represented by Newmark.
“We believe our location in downtown San Diego, close to other life sciences companies, the convention center, and the airport, will be an important catalyst for our growth,” said Andre, founder and CEO of AnaBios.・Mr. Getty said in the announcement.
Genesis San Diego offers wet lab and office space built in the East Village.
(Courtesy of JLL/©Studio512.com)
San Diego’s biotech hubs are primarily concentrated in Sorrento Valley, Sorrento Mesa, UTC, and Torrey Pines, but downtown has received increased attention in recent years. Genesis is one of his three projects downtown that he is seeking to attract life science tenants.
of RaDD IQHQ The San Diego waterfront campus is 1.7 million square feet. The project will focus on life science labs and offices, but also promises retail, dining and green space.
Houghton Campus is a 10-acre mixed-use development proposed with two 40-story apartment towers, retail, and office space for life science companies.
Both Horton and IQHQ are larger mixed-use developments compared to Genesis, but have not yet announced any life sciences-related leases.
“It’s difficult to create a completely new life sciences cluster downtown,” said Josh Orr, local director of market analysis for real estate tracker CoStar. “We already have well-established facilities in the UC San Diego area.”
Another long-term challenge to attracting these established life sciences companies to downtown could be that their employees and executives already live near North County, Orr said. Ta.
Overall, demand for space in the local life sciences market is “a little bit cooler” compared to 2021, when venture capital was flowing in at record levels, Orr said. At the same time, subleasing activity is increasing as companies look to save costs and free up unused office space thanks to hybrid working.
Orr said approximately 5.5 million square feet of life sciences space is under construction across San Diego, with approximately 3.8 million square feet available for lease.
“This is a bit concerning because over the past 16 to 18 months, we’ve seen so many speculative life sciences categories come onto the market that we’ve seen a relative cooling of demand,” he said. said.
Despite a tough economic environment for startups, Genesis has been successful in attracting the first wave of companies to downtown’s “emerging life sciences market,” says Phase 3 Real Estate Partners’ executive vice president of western operations. said BJ Van Aken.
He cited Boston and Cambridge’s Kendall Square as blueprints for what urban life sciences clusters could look like. Additionally, he noted that in some cases, downtown San Diego may offer a more convenient location for life science workers.
“Whether you’re a law firm or a scientific company, an urban environment and walkable amenities are valuable,” Van Aken said. “I think an urban environment has a feel and uniqueness that a suburban campus cannot offer.”
Also on the ground floor of the Genesis building is Callie, a rising star in San Diego’s culinary world. The young restaurant, which combines Mediterranean and California flavors, was recognized by the Michelin Guide in 2021.
Earlier this year, the restaurant also announced plans to expand its presence in the building by hosting catered private events. Van Aken said Curry and Genesis life science tenants will have the option to reserve the penthouse floor for events.
