N.Y. investors grab Fremont buildings with life-sciences tenants
Company co-founded by Elon Musk takes reins in one lease
FREMONT >> A global real estate investor has bought two large office buildings — including one leased to an Elon Musk company — in Fremont’s Ardenwood district, which has become a hotbed for tech and life sciences tenants.
The property deal shows that Silicon Valley buildings with life science or tech tenants are drawing the interest of buyers despite any economic uncertainties that may linger in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Bentall Green Oak, acting through affiliate BGO Ardenwood Owner, paid $51.3 million for the two buildings, public documents that were filed on April 9 in Alameda County show.
The buildings bought by Bentall Green Oak are located on Campus Drive near Kaiser Drive in Fremont, according to the county property records. The property is in an emerging Fremont tech hub known as Ardenwood Technology Park.
Neuralink, a company co-founded by Elon Musk that has developed a technology that could allow people to control devices with brain waves, recently moved its headquarters from San Francisco to one of the just-purchased Fremont buildings.
The buildings together total about 92,200 square feet, according to a property sales brochure that was circulated by JLL, a commercial real estate firm. The seller, an affiliate of LBA Realty, calls the site Ardenwood Research Center.
One building, totaling 48,200 square feet, is leased to Neuralink and is at 34781 Campus Drive.
The other building, totaling 44,000 square feet, is rented by AnaSpec and is at 34801 Campus Drive, the JLL brochure shows.
Musk, tech entrepreneur and Tesla CEO, cofounded Neuralink and recently shifted the company’s headquarters to Fremont from San Francisco, according to the JLL brochure. Neuralink has developed a neurological interface that can link a brain and a computer.
“Neuralink has experienced significant growth since inception, and could be a logical candidate to expand into the second building within the property,” the JLL brochure stated.
A careers page on the Neuralink website shows that the company aims to hire at least 25 more people to work in Fremont.
“We are looking to hire a wide range of people with diverse engineering, scientific, and operations expertise,” the Neuralink post states.
To help finance the property purchase, BentallGreen Oak obtained a loan of $30.25 million from Wells Fargo Bank, according to records filed in Alameda County.
Although Bentall GreenOak, a real estate firm with $55 billion in property assets under management, is the principal buyer, property documents show that Harvest Properties also has an involvement with the ownership group.
Fremont’s Ardenwood Technology Park has become a magnet for an array of tech and biotech companies lately.
“Ardenwood has been transformed considerably in recent years,” JLL stated in its brochure. “Life sciences companies especially have been flocking to Ardenwood Technology Park due to its close proximity and easy access to Silicon Valley and the Peninsula.”
The Fremont district of Ardenwood is perched near the east end of the Dumbarton Bridge, with access to the main tech hubs of Silicon Valley.
“If you look at companies like Facebook and Tesla, they have a presence on the west side of the Dumbarton Bridge,” said Dave Sandlin, an executive vice president with Colliers, a commercial real estate firm. “Ardenwood offers a less-expensive place for expansion.”
The Fremont area also can help tech companies cut down on the commutes of workers who live in the East Bay or Central Valley.
“Ardenwood gives companies the ability to tap a labor pool that is probably a little bit hesitant to take that extra commute across the bridge,” Sandlin said.