Genesis San Diego secures life sciences lab Excellos as smart building tenant
Barings, one of the world's largest diversified real estate investment managers, along with Phase 3 Real Estate Partners and Bain Capital Real Estate announced today that their joint venture has secured Excellos as a tenant at Genesis San Diego, a premier Class A, life sciences building located at 1155 Island Ave. in downtown San Diego.
Excellos, a novel cell and gene therapy contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), will establish its global headquarters at this state-of-the-art facility. As downtown San Diego's second-ever life sciences lab lease, the agreement spans a full floor consisting of 36,383 square feet and brings Genesis San Diego to 36% leased.
As recounted by a press release, Genesis San Diego is a 203,000-square-foot, eight-story life sciences building. The property is situated in San Diego's East Village district surrounded by numerous retail, dining and entertainment amenities, and immediately adjacent to two San Diego Trolley (light rail) lines, providing Genesis San Diego a 99 Walk Score and 81 Transit Score. The property is three blocks from the Petco Park Major League Baseball stadium (home of the Padres), and Callie, a Michelin-recognized restaurant tenant, operates on the ground floor of Genesis San Diego. Additional retail, dining and entertainment amenities can be found in the Gaslamp Quarter, a six-minute walk to the west.
According to a press release, with a commitment to sustainability, tenant health and wellness, and digital connectivity, Genesis San Diego includes smart building systems, green design elements, and outdoor amenity areas on the eighth, fifth, and ground levels, and is certified LEED Gold.
Recent building upgrades include HVAC and plumbing infrastructure (such as VRF heating and cooling systems, new exhaust fans, 100% outside air for lab areas, and needlepoint bipolar ionization), along with a new 5,000-pound service elevator and upgraded lab floor loads.
Additional enhancements include a new lab services facility with a glass wash, autoclave and staffed shipping and receiving room, a top floor lounge and event space, and ready-to-occupy "spec suites" consisting of 50% lab / 50% office built out in various sizes throughout the building.
"We are excited to welcome Excellos, another innovative tenant, to Genesis San Diego, which is becoming an important life science location within San Diego's innovation economy," said Ben Green, managing director, asset management at Barings. "We continue to collaborate closely with our partners to foster an environment that supports the ground-breaking life sciences advancements of Excellos and others in our building."
"Our new headquarters will enable us to increase our capabilities necessary to meet the growing industry demand for highly-characterized cellular material," said David Wellis, CEO of Excellos. "Centrally located, and expertly designed, the lab space and new cleanrooms will allow a seamless transition from collection and isolation to process development and manufacturing of cell and gene therapies. This move demonstrates our resolute commitment to supply our partners and patients with the best therapies possible."
"This lease is a reflection of the continued interest by San Diego life sciences companies in the emerging Downtown lab market in general and in the value of the high quality ready-to-occupy space delivered at Genesis San Diego. Excellos is a great addition and complement to the mission critical research and development ecosystem curated at the project," said BJ Van Aken, executive vice president, Phase 3 Real Estate Partners.
