GI Partners pays $388M for three life science complexes

GI Partners has acquired two life science complexes in South San Francisco and another in San Carlos from Alexandria Real Estate Equities for $388 million, one of the sector’s largest sales for the Bay Area in recent memory.

The San Francisco-based investment firm paid about $1,168 a square foot to purchase the multi-tenant properties at 7000 Shoreline Court and 381-383 Oyster Point Boulevard in South San Francisco and 75-125 Shoreway Road in San Carlos. Public records indicate that GI acquired the three complexes, which combined total about 332,000 square feet, through its so-called Essential Tech + Science Fund.

The different limited liability companies the firm used to acquire each property had the letters “ETS” in their names, the abbreviation it uses for the nearly $1.5 billion fund it formed last year, according to public records. The sale closed Sept. 16, documents filed with the San Mateo County Clerk-Recorder’s Office show.

Representatives for GI didn’t respond to requests for comment. Pasadena-based Alexandria declined a request for comment.

While numerous developers and investors have paid north of $50 million to acquire Bay Area properties suitable for life science tenants in recent years, a number of those deals were for existing offices that could be redeveloped or repositioned to accommodate those users. In contrast, the GI deal involved existing life science assets — two of which were completed in the early 2000s and the other, in San Carlos, in 1987, title service records show. Such trades are rare in the Bay Area, where life science landlords tend to hold assets for the long term.

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