By Meghan Hall
After nearly two years of ownership, Nuveen has sold off a key life science asset in the growing market of San Diego. In a deal that closed during the second quarter, Nuveen sold Pacific Plaza at Torrey Hills for $123.1 million, or about $565 per square foot, according to data released by brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield. The buyer of the property was Breakthrough Properties.
The asset is located at 10935, 10945, and 10955 Vista Sorrento Parkway and totals 217,902 square feet. The asset was originally constructed in 2002. Nuveen first acquired the asset as part of a joint venture with a publicly-traded REIT back in the fall 2019. The acquisition was made in an effort to diversify Nuveen’s portfolio in the life sciences industry.
The campus is located just off of Interstate 5 and near a number of other biotech and life sciences companies. US Specialty Labs, Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services and NuVasive all have offices nearby, as well as some of the biggest names in the industry such as Illumina, Pfizer and General Atomics. Amazon’s San Diego Tech Hub is also a short drive away, as is UCSD Medical and the Alexandria Tech Center, meaning that the property is well-located within San Diego’s growing life sciences cluster.
Nation-wide, the life sciences industry has seen an explosion of growth. San Diego is one city that has benefitted off the industry’s expansion; another recent Cushman & Wakefield report stated that the metro is North America’s third largest center of biotechnology-type research activity, only second to hubs in the San Francisco Bay Area and Boston.
The Torrey Pines market, where Pacific Plaza at Torrey Hills is located, sits at the center of San Diego’s industry. In San Diego, the life sciences cluster generates $39.4 billion in economic output and has created 65,000 jobs in the area. Currently, the sector occupies about 19.3 million square feet of commercial space, and rents for life sciences offices average about $43.52 per square foot triple-net.
As Pacific Plaza at Torrey Hills’ new owner, Breakthrough Properties is looking to take advantage of the market. In addition to the acquisition, the firm is also pursuing development nearby. Currently, Breakthrough Properties is pursuing the development of a nine-acre site at the corner of Carmel Mountain Road. The company hopes to build three, four-to-five story buildings totaling 442,500 square feet.
