Oxford Properties Group (“Oxford”), a leading global real estate investor, asset manager and business builder today announced the acquisition of Foundry31 for $172.7 million. The 402,700 square foot mixed-use building is located in the Berkeley/Emeryville corridor of San Francisco’s East Bay with 100,000 square feet of the property identified to be converted into lab and life sciences space in the near term. The acquisition continues Oxford’s strategy of building a dedicated life sciences business and follows the recent acquisition of the nearby Public Market Emeryville, the purchase and conversion of Boren Lofts in Seattle and three assets acquired in the Greater Boston Area in early 2021.
Over the past few years, Oxford has been building its expertise in the sector while deploying capital through a variety of equity and credit investments as well as building a substantial development pipeline. In the first few months of 2021, it has secured six new life sciences investments that, when accounting for new development opportunities at these properties, will account for over $1.2 billion in deployed capital.
Oxford will partner with City Center Realty Partners (“CCRP”), a San Francisco-based real estate developer and investor and Oxford’s partner on the Public Market Emeryville acquisition, to engage in a conversion of the vacant space into life sciences and lab space. The property is located on 7.5 acres and includes medical, office and manufacturing space and offers onsite amenities including a fitness center, bike storage, and EV charging stations.
“Substantially growing our life sciences business represents one of our highest conviction investment strategies and top priorities at Oxford,” said Chad Remis, Executive Vice President, North America at Oxford Properties. “The supply of high-quality life sciences space is limited, and the acquisition of Foundry31 presents us with a unique opportunity to immediately convert 100,000 square feet to help provide the critical lab infrastructure required that allows innovative biotech firms to deliver the life-changing therapeutics of tomorrow.”
Foundry31 is centrally located at the intersection of Emeryville, Berkeley and Oakland. The property is just miles away from both San Francisco and UC Berkeley at a prime transit-oriented location with quick access to major thoroughfares, BART and the Emeryville Greenway bike path and trail.
“We will continue to grow in strategic markets across North America, including in the East Bay which has one of the nation’s highest concentration of life science companies in the U.S.” commented Tycho Suter, Vice President of Investments, Oxford Properties. “This transaction also grows our partnership with CCRP. This project will draw from CCRP’s deep local market experience and track record combined with Oxford’s global best practices to bring much-needed and world-class lab space to this market.”
“While our firm’s work is national, CCRP’s decade of involvement in this community speaks to our commitment to helping shape Emeryville and the East Bay for a bright economic future and a place that people want to live and work,” noted Sig Anderson, CCRP co-founder and CEO.
Oxford’s growth into life sciences in North America will initially focus on the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Boston, San Diego, and other emerging locations Oxford has early excitement over. Beyond North America, Oxford is also reviewing opportunities across Europe as it looks for global exposure to the asset class.
