475,000 SQFT Life Science Development Moves Forward in Burlingame
December 2nd By Kate Snyder via the Registry
Life science projects remain active in Burlingame. A 475,000 square foot life science development that would be the first project in California for a Boston-based firm is moving toward its anticipated completion sometime in 2024. The project is located at 1669 and 1699 Old Bayshore Highway in Burlingame and is slated to contain Class A laboratory space and associated office space in two buildings connected via a public plaza.
In October, the Burlingame Planning Commission approved the proposal, and under Burlingame municipal procedure, actions taken by the planning commission are final unless appealed to Burlingame City Council. The developer is a joint venture between King Street Properties in Boston and Helios Real Estate in San Francisco. The architect is Perkins & Will.
According to Burlingame city records, the primary goal behind the project is to create high quality design and functionality to attract leading industry life science tenants to Burlingame and contribute to the established business community. The construction will be new steel frame buildings with glass and metal. The north campus of the proposed project would be approximately 193,380 square feet with the south campus consisting of about 282,410 square feet. Both buildings would have rooftop terraces and a ground floor plaza facing Malcolm Road. The total proposed use mix would consist of 60 percent laboratory space and 40 percent office space.
The site is designed to promote pedestrian access with the public realm through a new plaza between the two occupied buildings, according to project plans. Onsite amenities will include a fitness center, conferencing facilities, a café, and flexible work areas. The four vacant buildings that currently exist on the site consist of 100,510 square feet of combined office, industrial and restaurant uses and would be demolished.
The proposed project also includes streetscape improvements such as streetlights, sidewalk expansion and bike lanes along Old Bayshore Highway; new landscaped promenades along Old Bayshore Highway, Malcolm Road and Stanton Road; new open space and paved plazas on Malcolm Road; and a new raised crosswalk on Malcolm Road at the west side of the site to connect the plazas for each building.
Founded in 2020, Helios Real Estate Partners is based in San Francisco and offers services in real estate development and investment, entitlement and construction management, according to the firm’s website. Currently, the company has projects in Burlingame, Foster City and Menlo Park.
“Our team brings a diverse breadth of experience across all asset classes, with backgrounds in investment, development, construction and capital markets,” the company’s website states. “No matter what the scope, we always stay engaged in all aspects of the development process from conception to implementation.”
Based in Boston, King Street Properties is, according to the firm’s website, the “largest private owner/operator of life science real estate in the world.” With assets located in Greater Boston, New York, the Research Triangle and the Bay Area, the company has 2.8 million square feet of life-science real estate under ownership and management and 4.5 million square feet in development. The Old Bayshore Highway project is the company’s first in California.
Earlier this year, the firm also purchased an office building at 1499 Old Bayshore for $45.2 million, or about $1,028 per square foot, according to The Registry’s previous reporting. The seller of the property was an entity affiliated with Mehrdad Elie, owner of Eliecorp. The property is a two-story building totaling 43,954 square feet and is located just under half a mile from the 1669 and 1699 Old Bayshore development. At the time of purchase, the 1499 property was planned to be redeveloped into 300,000 square feet of Class A life science space.
The Burlingame Planning Commission also recently approved another research and development project at 777 Airport Blvd., according to an announcement from the city. That project is slated to be a 13-story building located on the Burlingame waterfront. The developer is LPC West, the West Coast arm of national real estate firm Lincoln Property Company, in partnership with Dune Real Estate Partners. The project is anticipated to provide more than 400,000 square feet of office space for leading employers in science and technology and expected to generate more than $1 billion in economic activity, including 2,500 permanent jobs.
Full article by Kate Snyder: https://news.theregistrysf.com/475000-sqft-life-science-development-moves-forward-in-burlingame/