California life-sciences investor Breakthrough Properties pays $85M for Boulder campus

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect new figures for BioMed’s transition of portions of the Flatiron Park campus to biosciences-focused space.

BOULDER — An out-of-town newcomer has entered Boulder’s red-hot biotechnology real estate market with the purchase of a four-building office hub on 38th Street that will be redeveloped into a life-sciences-focused office, labs and flex-space campus. 

Breakthrough Properties, a Los Angeles-based joint venture from global real estate investor  Tishman Speyer Properties LP and biotechnology investment firm Bellco Capital LLC, took over the buildings at 1685, 1715, 1745, and 1775 38th St. from local investment and development firm Conscience Bay Co. LLC, which also has a hand in other biotech projects in the city.

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Breakthrough, through holding company 1685 38th Owner LLC, bought the 164,000-square-feet campus from CBC entity Pond Path LLC for $85.25 million, Boulder County real estate documents show. 

The campus will be dubbed Boulder 38 by Breakthrough.

“We are excited to bring the Breakthrough platform to Boulder and contribute to the phenomenal growth of a thriving life science innovation market,” Breakthrough chief investment officer Daniel D’Orazi said in a prepared statement. “From our fully integrated design and development teams to our highly experienced lab operations platform, Breakthrough is uniquely positioned to provide best-in-class infrastructure and amenities to meet the intense and growing demand for high quality lab and office environments in this supply-constrained market.”

The deal is Breakthrough’s first in Boulder. 

Conscience Bay focuses both on commercial properties and agricultural assets. Its local portfolio includes an auto dealer at 3150 28th St. and an industrial building at 3550 Frontier Ave.

The company this year dipped its toe in the biotech pool with West Meadows, a redevelopment project at 3825 Walnut St.

West Meadow presents a “significant opportunity for a cutting edge, two-story, science and technology development,” according to documents submitted to the city in April by representatives of property owner West Meadow LLC, a holding company affiliated with CBC.

The Boulder 38 by Breakthrough project represents a continuation of the popular trend of office and laboratory space in the Boulder Valley focusing on life-science tenants. 

“Boulder has succeeded in cultivating a unique ecosystem propelled by leading research and academic institutions, creative residents and premier outdoor recreational amenities,” Tishman Speyer senior managing director Paul DeMartini said in a prepared statement. “We are excited by this opportunity to create a world-class research campus that will serve as a magnet for life science innovation and talent.”

An example of this trend is BioMed Realty LLC’s purchase of a portfolio in Boulder’s Flatiron Park business campus. About 23% of the portfolio is home to life-sciences tenants, and part of BioMed’s investment will be upgrading buildings to bring that percentage closer to 57%.

In nearby Louisville, Denver-based developer Brue Baukol Capital Partners LLC is planning to build Redtail Ridge, a mixed-use project on the roughly 400-acre, long-vacant, former Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) that will be designed to attract biotechnology tenants.