Harbor Associates — in a joint venture with Platform Ventures, LLC — has acquired a 118,906-square-foot commercial office and research and development building in Agoura Hills for $19.3 million.
Harbor will be signing A2 Biotherapeutics to a long-term, 75,994-square-foot lease at the building, which is located at 30601 Agoura Road. The building will serve as A2 Biotherapeutics’ new global headquarters.
Jay Rubin and Jared Smits of Lee & Associates advised the undisclosed seller. Mark Perry of CBRE represented Harbor and Platform in the transaction. Rick Pearson of Cushman & Wakefield represented A2 Bio in the lease negotiations.
A2 Biotherapeutics invented the Tmod cell therapy platform to tackle the fundamental challenge in solid tumor treatment—the ability of cancer medicines to distinguish between tumor and normal cells.
A2 will expand its presence in Agoura Hills as it will continue to occupy 30,000 square feet in neighboring buildings. The new headquarters will feature approximately 70 percent lab and R&D space, with the remaining 30 percent devoted to collaboration space.
The two-story multitenant building is ideally located in the eastern gateway of Conejo Valley, which includes one of Southern California’s major life science clusters. Nearly 70 life and bio science firms, including Amgen, Baxter, Allergan and Takeda occupy approximately 4.3 million square feet of space in the Conejo Valley.
The 11-year lease with A2 Bio speaks to the demand for space by life science and bio-tech firms nationwide. According to CBRE, at the end of 2021, office-to-lab conversions in the 12 largest U.S. life sciences markets, which includes Los Angeles, amounted to 9.9 million square feet, up 49% from the beginning of the year.
In January of 2020, Harbor acquired Agoura Hills Business Park, an adjacent 114,325-square-foot office project in Agoura Hills, and made improvements to the building to attract the life science groups expanding into the area, which included A2 Bio.
Between 30601 Agoura Road and Agoura Hills Business Park, Harbor Associates is delivering a variety of market ready R&D/lab spaces, ranging in size from 2,000 to 18,000 square feet, readymade with appropriate infrastructure.
A2 Bio is expected to take occupancy in the second half of 2023. The Harbor-led joint venture will add on-site amenities to create an attractive workplace environment that will help A2 Bio attract and retain talent. Improvements will include an expansive outdoor meeting and social spaces, upgraded building lobby, drought-tolerant landscaping, exterior building enhancements and signage.