Illumina Quietly Leases Huge Space In Foster City

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January 6, 2015
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor

San Diego biotech darling Illumina Inc. is staking another claim in Northern California, saying Monday that it has leased 360,000 square feet of lab and office space in BioMed Realty Trust’s Lincoln Centre development in Foster City, with the option to add an additional 160,000 square feet over the 15-year lease terms.

The amount of rent charged was not released, but given its location, BioSpace readers can estimate that it weighs in around $55 per square foot. Illumina already has a major presence all over the Bay Area, with locations in Redwood City, Hayward and Santa Clara, but has perhaps been best known recently for a brand new campus in San Francisco’s Mission Bay area.

It will now consolidate those operations in its new Foster City location, Illumina said Monday.

“[This site will have ] two Class A laboratory and office buildings totaling 360,000 square feet which are expected to be delivered in 2017; properties which are targeted to receive LEED Gold Certification, employing modern, creative design techniques, sustainable materials, and cutting-edge technology solutions to provide the highest-levels of sustainability and energy efficiency; flexible, adaptive building designs that will enable the buildings to support the dynamic, evolving business needs of Illumina,” said the company in a statement.

“A multitude of amenities including a large central quad with an outdoor amphitheater, playing fields, inviting and creative meeting spaces and other recreational features to allow Illumina employees to live, work and play in an environment that fosters healthy, engaged employee participation,” said the company, “[all with] excellent access to the primary transportation arteries in the Bay Area, Highway 101 and Interstate 280 on the Peninsula and Interstate 880 in the East Bay.”

This new lease is tailored as a build-to-suit arrangement for Illumina, another sign that the Bay Area is becoming increasingly competitive with larger biotech metropolises like San Diego and Boston. Illumina’s management lauded the deal Monday as the perfect place to stay and grow, though the company didn’t mention any specific hiring plans.

“Employee collaboration and innovation are foundational to Illumina‘s success. In addition to our new Mission Bay location, this campus will provide us with an opportunity to bring together employees from several different sites as we continue to optimize and grow our presence in the Bay Area,” said Marc Stapley, chief financial officer for Illumina. “We also expect this campus will provide stronger ties with our customers and partners, while establishing a state-of-the-art work environment to retain and attract the most talented employees in our industry.”

The “get” of Illumina to the area by BioMed, a real estate investment trust based in San Diego, had its executives crowing Monday as well, particularly since the company already rents to Illumina in San Diego and Essex, England.

“BioMed Realty is proud that Illumina selected us as their development partner to create their new campus in the San Francisco Bay area,” said Alan Gold, chairman and CEO of BioMed Realty, in a statement.

“Their decision to expand their Bay Area operations into Foster City locates them in the vibrant Peninsula cluster so they can develop new science and technologies at the crossroads of innovative, academic and transformational research,” said Gold. “We will partner with Illumina to create a life science campus for Illumina and its employees that is the ideal workplace environment for their continued innovation, success and dynamic growth.”

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