Paracel Inks $25-Mil Koll Center Lease

LOS ANGELES-Wanting to stay in Pasadena and close to Cal Tech, high-tech/bio-tech firm Paracel Inc. has signed a 10-year lease valued at more than $25 million for 84,827 sf in the new Koll Center Pasadena complex nearing completion on Colorado Boulevard here.

The deal includes “prominent building top signage,” says Patrick Church of the Glendale office of CB Richard Ellis, which represented Newport Beach-based builder Koll Development Co. Paracel Inc., repped by Cresa Partners, Brentwood, will move into the fourth and fifth floors of the 176,170-sf building next March.

Pasadena-based Paracel, recently acquired by biotech giant Celera Genomics Group, develops high-performance genomic data and systems for the pharmaceutical, biotech, information-services and government markets. It wanted to stay close to the California Institute of Technology because Cal Tech cranks out a steady supply of top-notch graduates in the various technology fields and also because several government agencies and private businesses feed off the university’s research projects.

Koll Center Pasadena is the first speculative office project undertaken in Pasadena since 1991, says Kevin Duffy, another CB Richard Ellis broker who worked on the Paracel deal. “With a 4% vacancy rate in Pasadena, the project reinforces the strong demand for office space in the region,” he adds.