Miltenyi Biotec Buys R&D Building in North San Jose for $34

Miltenyi Biotec has picked up a 51,800-square-foot office and research building in North San Jose for $34.1 million.

The German biotech firm bought the two-story building at 2825 North First Street through an all-cash deal, the San Jose Mercury News reported. The seller was Miramar Capital, based in Los Angeles.

The price works out to $658 per square foot.

A Miramar affiliate bought the research-and-development building in 2019 for $16.3 million, or $315 a square foot. At the time, the entire building was occupied by Miltenyi, which had a 10-year lease.

The sale suggests that Silicon Valley office and research buildings can maintain or increase their values if they are occupied by tenants with robust business operations, according to the Mercury News.

Starting last year, tech and biotech companies began to slash jobs and sublease office space, but the life sciences have remained resilient despite a troubled Bay Area office market.

There were 1.3 million square feet of life science leases across the Bay Area last year, second to Boston at 3.1 million, but ahead of San Diego at 1.2 million, according to a CBRE report. As of last spring, the region had 9.3 million more square feet of labs under construction.

Miltenyi Biotec, which provides products and services for research and clinical applications, appears to be growing in Silicon Valley. The firm also has offices in Maryland and China, according to its website.

In 2017, Miltenyi worked in a building on Humboldt Court in Sunnyvale that Google now owns. The biotech firm then moved to the building in North San Jose, which serves as a product development center.

— Dana Bartholomew