IQHQ, a life science-focused REIT, acquired the site of a large project in downtown Redwood City that it envisions as a life science district with a mixed-use component.
The company purchased about 8 acres of land located mostly along El Camino Real and Maple, Cedar, and Main Streets, it said in a statement on Monday. The parcels make up the site of Elco Yards, a mixed-use development with almost 600,000 square feet of office and life science space spread across four buildings and 540 apartments, more than a quarter of which would be offered at rents considered affordable by the Mid-Peninsula city. IQHQ declined to disclose the purchase price.
The project is “well-positioned to address the unmet demand for premier lab space in the Bay Area,” IQHQ CEO Steve Rosetta said in the statement. IQHQ said in an email that it aims to start work on the commercial portion in the first quarter of next year.
The Bay Area’s life-science real estate market, the second-largest in the U.S. after Boston, is booming. San Mateo County, which includes Redwood City, had almost 987,000 square feet of such leases in the third quarter, including renewals and new deals, more than three times the amount leased in the previous quarter, according to commercial brokerage Kidder Mathews. Yet the county’s vacancy rate for lab space dropped to about 2.5 percent from just over 3 percent, highlighting the need for new projects to meet the demand.
Elco Yards also includes more than an acre of public outdoor space, almost 30,000 square feet of room for shops and restaurants, and a planned child care facility. IQHQ also intends to create a landscaped pedestrian and bike path along Redwood Creek, extending from El Camino Real to Lathrop Street.
Greystar, which advanced Elco Yards through Redwood City’s development approval process, will remain responsible for completing its residential portion, even though IQHQ owns the entire site, according to the Monday release. IQHQ said in an email that it plans to retain Cushman & Wakefield to handle leasing and marketing.
UPDATE: This story has been updated to add that IQHQ aims to retain Cushman & Wakefield for leasing and marketing.