Barings Acquires Bay Area Life Science Portfolio
Three GMP Buildings in Fremont, California
Acquisition Executes on Firm’s Growth in Specialized Asset Class
Barings, one of the world’s largest diversified real estate investment managers, announced today its acquisition of a portfolio of three life science assets totaling 228,025 square feet in Fremont, California from Angelo Gordon & Company. Lincoln Property Company has joined Barings in the venture, and Newmark has facilitated the transaction.
The portfolio, fully Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliant, contains ideal life science building characteristics, including clear heights of over 20 ft., a minimum of 2,000 amps of power, abundant dock-high and at-grade doors, and 3.4x parking ratios. Each of the three buildings offers between 50,000 and 100,000 rentable square feet with a first floor designed for lab and manufacturing use and a mezzanine floor for offices and conference rooms. Barings has plans in place for nearly $20 million of interior and exterior improvements and enhancements across the portfolio.
“These life science assets are a tremendous addition to Barings’ portfolio of state-of-the art buildings in leading life science hubs where lab demand is high and well-funded innovation thrives,” said Joe Gorin, Managing Director, Head of US Acquisitions and Portfolio Management for Barings. “This investment further demonstrates Barings’ commitment to this critical, specialized asset class, particularly in markets where STEM-oriented, skilled workforces continue to grow.”
Spread across the city of Fremont at 34325 Ardenwood Boulevard, 45401 Research Avenue, and 48664 Milmont Drive, the portfolio is strategically positioned within the Bay Area, consistently among the nation’s top two leading life science clusters, with close proximity to major interstate freeways (I-880 and I-680), San Jose International Airport, and connectivity to the San Francisco Peninsula. Surrounded by some of the world’s leading science and technology companies as well as major colleges and universities, the Fremont market is currently experiencing a severe supply-demand imbalance with a 4.5% vacancy rate and current tenant demand of 538,000 square feet, according to Newmark Research.
“With high demand and low vacancy, we continue to hear from groundbreaking, life-changing companies looking for properties that will meet their specific needs and requirements,” said David Otte, Barings’ Managing Director, Acquisitions. “Additionally, there’s no slowing down for the Bay Area cluster as life science leaders want to be amongst their peers in this influential, stimulating market.”
Newmark Executive Vice Chairman and President, Western Region Capital Markets, Steven Golubchik, Vice Chairman Edmund Najera, Senior Managing Director Jonathan Schaefler and Director Darren Hollak facilitated the transaction.
“This portfolio provided the opportunity to acquire effectively all of the GMP vacancy within the Fremont market,” said Golubchik.” As onshoring trends continue and life science users seek production facilities proximate to their R&D, product like the Fremont GMP portfolio will remain in high-demand.”
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
About Barings
Barings is a $371+ billion* global investment manager sourcing differentiated opportunities and building long-term portfolios across public and private fixed income, real estate, and specialist equity markets. With investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, the firm, a subsidiary of MassMutual, aims to serve its clients, communities and employees, and is committed to sustainable practices and responsible investment. Learn more at www.barings.com.
*Assets under management as of March 31, 2022
About Newmark
Newmark Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMRK), together with its subsidiaries (“Newmark”), is a world leader in commercial real estate, seamlessly powering every phase of the property life cycle. Newmark’s comprehensive suite of services and products is uniquely tailored to each client, from owners to occupiers, investors to founders, and startups to blue-chip companies. Combining the platform’s global reach with market intelligence in both established and emerging property markets, Newmark provides superior service to clients across the industry spectrum. Newmark generated revenues of nearly $3.1 billion for the twelve months ending March 31, 2022. Newmark’s company-owned offices, together with its business partners, operate from approximately 170 offices with 6,300 professionals around the world. To learn more, visit nmrk.com or follow @newmark.