ALACHUA, FL—One of the largest single office transactions in this market closed as part of a 1031 exchange recently. Alachua Foundation Park Holding LLC was the seller of the biotech and life science research facility, which is located in Foundation Park, and the buyer was HF Holdings Colorado, LLC. Financing was provided by Valley Bank's Orlando office and Avison Young brokered the $12 million transaction.

Avison Young Principals Rick Cain and Nick Banks, who is also managing director of the firm's Gainesville office, worked on behalf of the seller.

"Our team at Avison Young worked closely with the buyer and seller to overcome several current market challenges, including fluctuating loan terms, overall timing, and access for third party reports," Banks tells GlobeSt.com.

"There were definitely some challenges brought on by the current conditions but it was very helpful that we had a buyer and seller who were both motivated to get to the finish line," Cain tells GlobeSt.com. One factor that helped was that the fundamentals of the investment did not change despite current conditions, Cain adds.

Banks says there are several companies in the vicinity who have won new vaccine contracts as a result of the coronavirus.

"We anticipate this will lead to further development and possible expansions of existing facilities. The developer is in ongoing discussions with these groups, but there is no specific timeline."

Cain says to his knowledge, there is no set development timetable, but there have been early stage discussions with a number of companies in the life sciences arena that are interested in the area.

Banks says the bioscience sector is a major driver for the Gainesville area economy.

"The roughly $800 million in annual research that flows from the University of Florida leads to many new inventions and technologies that help fuel the growth of these companies," Banks says. "Given the current focus on healthcare and vaccine development, we would expect the interest in this sector to help accelerate development.

Biotech and life science research and development are core areas of growth for the Gainesville market, Cain says.

"With our educated workforce and research coming out of the University of Florida, we've seen a number of local examples of companies in this arena like AGTC, Axogen, RTI, Brammer Bio, Ology and others that have been successful and paved the way for future development."

Instant Insights /

Drive for Coronavirus Vaccine Helps Push Gainesville Biotech Deal

Related Stories

Recommended For You