Canada-based Oxford Properties Group announced that they have acquired the Public Market Emeryville from current owners City Center Realty Partners (CCRP) and Angelo Gordon in a press release today. The price of the sale was not disclosed but The San Francisco Business Times speculated that Oxford likely paid close to $120 million for the property and surrounding parcels.

The transaction was represented by commercial real estate advisory firm Newmark Group who also recently represented the sale of the Sherwin-Williams warehouse from Lennar MC.

The 148,000 square foot mixed-use project is comprised of lab space, retail, food and office space. It includes 36,000 square feet of ground floor first generation lab space, the popular food hall, and approximately 60,000 square feet of current office and retail space identified for conversion to lab space.

“The food hall will remain,” a spokesperson for Oxford assured in the SF Business times piece. “It’s very successful and a great amenity for workers.’

The deal also features land parcels that have the potential to be developed into additional lab-space in a market that with high demand and low inventory.

“Growing a meaningfully sized life sciences business represents one of our highest conviction investment strategies and top priorities across our business,” commented Chad Remis, Executive Vice President, North America at Oxford Properties. “These transactions grow our presence in two key global life sciences markets and complement our existing portfolio of assets and significant development pipeline in the sector. It gives us a solid foundation to continue to grow from as we seek to scale this part of Oxford’s business in 2021.”

“City Center looks forward to our collaboration with Oxford on this project and continuing our successful transformation of Public Market Emeryville from a suburban-style collection of buildings and surface parking lots into a premium mixed-use life science campus in the East Bay,” said Mark Stefan, CCRP President and Co-Founder.

ADVERTISEMENT
[adrotate group="13"]

Oxford has announced that they are making a “push” into the North America Life Sciences market with an initial focus on the Bay Area, Boston, & San Diego. Oxford isn’t the only company targeting Emeryville with the aforementioned Chicago-based Walton Street Capital acquisition as well as the BioMed Realty acquisition of the Novartis property.

“Growth in this asset class is being driven by a number of tailwinds. Aging populations are a demographic engine, however the need for new treatments, diagnostics and equipment goes beyond that trend alone. Technology and science are converging with advances in data analytics and AI that is accelerating life-changing innovations across biotech, pharmaceuticals, nutrition and medical devices. As a result of this shift, private equity and venture capital funding for promising products and companies has markedly increased in recent years. This surge of activity and the formation of new and growing companies is taking place against the backdrop of a limited supply of lab infrastructure in the sector’s key global markets,” added Remis.

The acquisition was one of four announced by the company with the other three being in the Boston area. Oxford will invest $500 million through development of new biotech space and converting existing office and retail uses into new lab space.