While questions remain about the future of the traditional office building and overall office market, its life science segment remains solid. One transaction involving a life science property is a testament to the sector's strength.
In September, CBRE Investment Management purchased the Park Point office park in Durham, North Carolina, for $288 million. The price of $435.47 per square foot was one of the highest in 2022 for an office sale in Raleigh/Durham. The seller was a joint venture led by Starwood Capital Group of Miami Beach, Florida, along with minority partners Trinity Capital Advisors and Vanderbilt Office Properties.
The magnitude of the deal earned the transaction the 2023 CoStar Impact Award for the acquisition of the year in the Raleigh/Durham market, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
North Carolina's Research Triangle Park area is home to locations operated by Merck, Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies. The University of North Carolina and Duke University operate hospitals and medical schools in the Raleigh-Durham metro area. North Carolina State University has a school of biomedical engineering.
About the project: Park Point is a 100-acre office campus, spanning five buildings, restricted to tenants operating in the life sciences industry. It's located in the Research Triangle Park district of the Raleigh/Durham area of North Carolina. The offices were previously operated as a corporate campus for Nortel.
Tenants at the recently upgraded space include Grail Inc., a developer of cancer detection platforms, and Charles River Laboratories.
What the judges said: "The transformation of the Park Point property from a former Nortel campus into a sophisticated life science and research campus is a model for the impact that creative design and outside-of-the-box thinking can have in repurposing otherwise obsolete real estate," said Elizabeth Gates, senior research analyst at CBRE.
"Lots of earnings potential," said Ginny Hager, leasing representative at Highwoods Properties.
They made it happen: Ben Kilgore, Patrick Gildea and William Yowell at CBRE. Sarah Lagosh at Eastdil Secured.
