Bay Area life sciences demand fuels Crossroads Research Center sale
JLL Capital Markets led sales and financing efforts for the 4-buiding campus in the high-growth Central I-880 corridor
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 22, 2021 – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has closed the sale and arranged financing for Crossroads Research Center, a four-building life sciences and R&D campus totaling 322,318 square feet in Union City, California.
JLL represented the seller, a joint venture between Nearon Enterprises and Woodstock Development, and worked on behalf of the buyer to secure the five-year, floating-rate acquisition loan through Invesco Real Estate.
Crossroads Research Center is located at 3180-3200, 3240, 3242 and 3280 Whipple Rd in the high-growth Central I-880 Corridor of the Bay Area. The 23.1-acre site offers a central location easily accessible from the Mid-Peninsula, Silicon Valley and East Bay. In addition, the property has access to nearby world-class universities and research institutions, including UC Berkeley, UCSF, Stanford University, Santa Clara University and San Jose State University, and a highly educated workforce with more than 46% of residents holding a bachelor’s degree or higher.
“Nearon and Woodstock purchased the project in 2001 and since then it has been nearly 100% leased for over 20 years,” said Woodstock Development’s President Kirk Syme. “Crossroads has proven to be a tremendously successful project. We continue to invest in the Union City market and believe it is an ideal location for life sciences research and development into the future.”
Built between 2000 and 2004, Crossroads Research Center offers four single-story buildings with ideal life sciences conversion attributes, including 18’ to 24’ clear heights, a substantial mix of dock and grade doors serving each building and an above-market parking ratio.
The JLL Capital Markets team representing the seller was led by Senior Managing Director Will Connors, Senior Directors Daniel Renz and Erik Hanson, Director Michael Manas and Vice President Cheri Pierce.
“We have seen incredible demand for life sciences conversions in the last year as a result of record life sciences funding and rapidly evolving life sciences requirements in the Bay Area,” Connors said. “This transaction marks the fifth life sciences conversion play we’ve closed over the past six months in the Central I-880 corridor, representing more than 1.2 million square feet of space.”
JLL’s Capital Markets team representing the borrower was led by Senior Managing Director Peter Smyslowski and Associate Lillian Roos.
JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.
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Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc. ("JLL") is a real estate broker licensed with the California Department of Real Estate, license #01223413.
About JLL
JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. JLL shapes the future of real estate for a better world by using the most advanced technology to create rewarding opportunities, amazing spaces and sustainable real estate solutions for our clients, our people and our communities. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $16.6 billion in 2020, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 95,000 as of September 30, 2021. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com.
About Nearon Enterprises
Nearon is a Walnut Creek-based, privately held real estate investment firm. Nearon owns and operates a diverse portfolio of approximately 5.5 million square feet of properties throughout the Western U.S., including over 4 million square feet of industrial buildings, nearly 1 million square feet of offices and 600 apartment units. Current holdings are primarily concentrated in California, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. To learn more, please visit: nearon.com.
About Woodstock Development
Woodstock Development, Inc. was founded in 1995 in Burlingame, CA. Woodstock focuses on the development of premier office and Life Science properties in the San Francisco Bay Area. Woodstock has entitled and/or developed over 3 million square feet of Class A Office and Life Science space over the past 26 years and currently has over 2 million square feet in its development pipeline in the Bay Area. For more information, please visit www.woodstockdevelopment.com.