Exelixis to shed 212K sf of industrial in Alameda

Biotech firm lists three vacant buildings for sublease in a glutted market

Exelixis Puts Empty Buildings on Sublease Market in Alameda
Exelixis' Michael Morrissey with 1410 and 1751 Harbor Bay Parkway, Alameda (Loopnet, Exelixis)

Exelixis has put up 212,100 square feet of industrial buildings for sublease in Alameda, adding to a glutted life sciences market.

The locally based biotech firm has listed three vacant buildings at 1410, 1601 and 1751 Harbor Bay Parkway, the San Francisco Business Times reported, citing a regulatory filing.

The vacant buildings include a 100,400-square-foot building it leased in 2022 and 74,200- and 37,500-square-foot buildings it leased in 2020. Financial asking terms of the listing were not disclosed.

The publicly traded drug discovery firm said it would list the unoccupied Alameda properties on the sublease market after evaluating its “near-term” needs, according to the quarterly report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In January, Exelixis had announced it would lay off 175 employees, or 13 percent of its workforce, and shed unspecified real estate commitments. 

In a February filing, Exelixis said it had 610,000 square feet of leased buildings in Alameda. Minus the buildings listed for sublease, Exelixis appears to still occupy 398,000 square feet.

At the same time, the firm said it planned to exit 40,000 square feet of offices and labs in greater Philadelphia.

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Vacancy in Alameda’s 1.6 million-square-foot research and development market hit 14 percent in the third quarter, up from 8.5 percent in the second quarter, according to CBRE. 

From now through December, more space is expected to hit the market, with even more doors expected to open next year.

The East Bay’s supply of lab and research space grew in the wake of the pandemic, when demand and venture capitalist funding surged and drew developers to build in the region, according to the Business Journal.

But as supply grew, venture capital funding declined and vacancies jumped.

Oakland’s overall vacancy rate for R&D/flex industrial hit 14.1 percent in the third quarter, up from 12.4 percent in the second quarter.

Some 500,000 square feet of space at Berkeley Commons is set to open next quarter, and phase two of the Speedway at Bayfair, a 260,000-square-foot retail-to-R&D conversion of a Macy’s department store in San Leandro, is slated to open by the third quarter.

— Dana Bartholomew

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