A 98,776-square-foot office building in Thousand Oaks that will be converted into a life sciences campus has sold for $17.8 million.
CBRE Group Inc.’s Mike Longo, Sean Sullivan and Todd Tydlaska represented the seller in the transaction, an undisclosed private equity firm.
CBRE’s Greg Grant facilitated $42 million in financing for the building’s acquisition and speculative conversion into a life sciences campus on behalf of the buyer, San Francisco-based Graymark Capital. Most of the money from the loan will be used for the conversion.
The property, which was built in 1998, is located at 120 Via Merida. The two-story office building sits on 6.7 acres and was previously the corporate headquarters for Wellpoint Health Networks.
The property features 50,000-square-foot floor plates, steel frame construction, outdoor balconies, a grade-high dock door and ample power supply. It is well-suited to be redeveloped for life sciences use, according to CBRE.
“Thousand Oaks is the heartbeat of life sciences in Los Angeles,” Longo said in a statement. “The property sits at the entrance to the market and offers an ideal lab conversion due to its high-quality construction and campus layout, in a market with almost zero available space.”
The area is home to more than 30 life sciences companies, including Amgen’s headquarters.
Gray Matter, the life science initiative of Graymark Capital, is using architect BAM Creative to develop a phased conversion plan for the property. Upon completion, the property will feature 60% lab-ready space with upgraded mechanical, electrical and plumbing with 40% newly built creative office space to support the lab.
The property will also undergo exterior improvements and site improvements to the power system, loading area, indoor and outdoor amenity areas, cosmetics, roof and parking lot.
Los Angeles has emerged as one of the top life sciences clusters in the U.S. with 28 companies actively seeking space at the end of the fourth quarter of last year, according to CBRE. The market recorded 950,000 square feet of demand for lab/research and development space with 681,170 square feet under construction in the quarter.