By Meghan Hall
One of the biggest names in life sciences developments has turned its sights to the Eastside. In a multiple transactions that recently closed, Pasadena, Calif.-based Alexandria Real Estate purchased multiple office assets in Bothell for a combined $121.9 million.
In one deal, which included two transactions, the sellers were affiliated with John Martin and Nick Westlund of Bellevue-based Wesmar Investments LLC. Alexandria paid $56.9 million. In The first of the two transactions was for 3755 Monte Villa Parkway, also known as the AT&T Building. Alexandria paid $32.3 million or just under $316 per square foot for the asset. The Class B property totals 102,246 square feet and was originally constructed in 1997, according to data from CommercialCafe. The property is currently vacant.
Alexandria also acquired 3555 Monte Villa Parkway. Also vacant, Alexandria paid $24.57 million, or about $315 per square foot. The property was constructed in 1996 and totals about 78,000 square feet.
In a separate, off-market transaction, Alexandria paid $65 million for Monte Villa Farms. Located at 3301 Monte Villa Parkway, the asset includes several buildings totaling 283,000 square feet. According to a marketing flyer released by Broderick Group, the asset is close to walking and jogging trails, and is serviced by Russell’s restaurant. The property was sold by a Mercer Island-based investor.
In 2020, the Seattle region was ranked as one of the top-ten fastest growing life science markets in North America, according to research released by CBRE. As of the third quarter of 2020, the region saw its life sciences employment grow by just over four percent, driven by strong fundamentals such as high educational attainment, research clusters and an abundance of venture capital funding. By the end of the second quarter, Seattle raised $613.5 million in VC funding.
With a regional vacancy rate of just 2.2 percent, rents continued to increase throughout the year thanks to persistent demand. Tenant requirements for lab space totaled about 350,000 square feet during the second quarter. Two deliveries by Alexandria: the 194,000 square foot Atrium and the 100,000 square foot eleven65, which were both built speculatively, have been preleased. With those transactions, vacancy in Seattle dipped to less than one percent.
Over in Bothell, the second-largest market in the region for life sciences, the vacancy rate is at about 6.2 percent, and there are more than 60 life sciences companies that call the submarket home. Currently, Bothell has just under 2.45 million square feet of space. CBRE predicts that the market will tighten even further at the end of 2020—a boon to developers such as Alexandria looking to take advantage of the rapidly growing market.
