Prologis eyes 550K sf life science campus in South SF

Prologis is on the march in South San Francisco, hoping to build a 550,000-square-foot life science campus near an approved campus for 600,000 more square feet down the road.

The San Francisco-based developer has filed plans to build the latest office and research lab campus at 101-150 and 170 Associated Road and 175 Sylvester Road, the San Francisco Business Times reported.  A warehouse on the site would be demolished.

Plans call for two buildings of eight and 10 stories, plus a nine-story garage for 827 cars.

The application comes five months after Prologis and Alexandria Real Estate Equities entitled a 600,000-square-foot life science campus at 100 East Grand Avenue, just a stroll from the newly proposed project.

Then Alexandria, a Pasadena-based real estate investment trust, mysteriously walked away from the first project, incurring a $30 million loss in connection with the fizzled deal.

The latest life science project would be built on a 4.7-acre warehouse property just east of the  101 Freeway.

The project, designed by Mountain View-based DGA Architects, would feature two silvery glass buildings with vertical white slats, with several inset terraces on the upper floors, according to renderings.

Two parcels on Associated Road would be merged and redeveloped into a 340,600-square-foot West Building, while a larger parcel on Sylvester Road would house a 210,430-square-foot East Building and the garage. Landscaped plazas will connect both offices and research labs.

San Francisco-based Prologis also owns a parcel next door at 105 Associated Road, but the company apparently wants to shed some of its other nearby properties. 

In December, the developer entered into an agreement to sell an acre parcel now occupied by a warehouse at 130 East Grand Avenue to Trammell Crow.

In April, the  Dallas-based real estate investor cut deals to redevelop an industrial swath east of the 101 Freeway, which has emerged as a hub for life science offices and labs.

Trammell Crow was in talks with South San Francisco officials about converting a warehouse at 120 East Grand Avenue into a life science lab, and was looking to buy three other properties at 145, 160 and 180 Sylvester Road for redevelopment

The parcels, owned by Baker Properties, have yet to trade hands, according to the Business Times.

South San Francisco, dubbed the “birthplace of biotechnology” is now home to around 200 biotech companies inhabiting 11.5 million square feet.

— Dana Bartholomew