Office Portfolio Gets Boost with Central Tech Park Buy
The addition of Central Technology Park to Gemini Rosemont’s portfolio underscores its investment strategy to acquire class-A office assets in targeted US locations including Silicon Valley, says its CEO.
SANTA CLARA, CA—The recent $175 million acquisition of Central Technology Park adds 368,707 square feet to Gemini Rosemont Commercial Real Estate’s 36-property office portfolio. The four-building class-A office campus purchase is in line with Gemini Rosemont’s targeted investment strategy, says its CEO.
“The addition of Central Technology Park to our portfolio underscores our ongoing investment strategy to acquire class-A office assets in targeted US locations, which include Silicon Valley,” said Ian Brownlow, chief executive officer for Gemini Rosemont. “The commitment to the area by the world’s technology community coupled with the institutional quality, fully leased multi-building campus, makes Central Technology Park an extremely attractive investment.”
The campus, built between 1980 and 1987, has recently undergone a renovation of 90% of its square footage. This 32-year-old property simply needed to be brought up to today’s standards, says Jon Dishell, chief business development officer for Gemini Rosemont Commercial Real Estate.
“The seller had commenced the process for three of the four buildings. The improvements were mostly cosmetic although some steel framework was done,” Dishell tells Globest.com. “The windows were changed out with full height/width to allow more light, many of the tenant spaces were rehabbed, exteriors were painted, and HVAC systems were renovated. There is one building still to be done, which will be evaluated when the tenant’s lease expires.”
The campus is currently 100% leased to tenants including Cloudinary, Intuitive Surgical Inc., ThermoFisher Scientific Inc. and Nissan.
Central Technology Park is located at 3380-3420 Central Expressway. The property has regional access via US 101, CA-237, and the Central, Lawrence and San Tomas expressways. The campus is less than a mile from the Lawrence Caltrain station and just 10 minutes away from San Jose International Airport. Additionally, Central Technology park resides within the Lawrence Station Area Plan, which allows for high-density residential housing and will transform the area into a live/work/play environment.
The city council adopted the Lawrence Station Area Plan and environmental impact report in 2016, along with the associated general plan and zoning ordinance amendment, according to the city of Santa Clara. The goal is to take advantage of this central location with its close proximity to major regional transit by incorporating higher-density residential and transit supportive uses that will maximize the project area’s development potential. The housing density is intended to support transit usage with a commensurate reduction in reliance on the automobile, augmented by a bicycle and open space network.
Lawrence Station itself is part of Caltrain, a 32-stop rail system, serving San Francisco and the Peninsula, traveling through the South Bay to San Jose and Gilroy. Strategically located between the Sunnyvale Station and the Santa Clara Station, it serves both the cities of Sunnyvale and Santa Clara.
Gemini Rosemont’s Jason Kuester, senior managing director–acquisitions, and Jeremy Wustman, vice president, led the acquisition of the property, while Eastdil Secured, led by Greg Cioth, managing director and Nate Jones, senior vice president, represented the seller.
Gemini Rosemont is a real estate investment company with holdings of more than 8.5 million square feet of commercial office space.
“As a firm, we’ve made tech-centric and the West Coast separate attributes but we got both in this purchase,” Dishell tells GlobeSt.com. “This is one of many acquisitions. We’re very focused and have pretty significant acquisition plans. We look to double that 8.5 million square feet in the next few years.”