In December 2022, Gordon Brothers and our firm’s joint venture partner Sansome Street Advisors (SSA), a San Francisco-based commercial real estate firm, closed on the sale of 1828 El Camino Real in Burlingame, California. We successfully completed the investment of the building’s conversion to life sciences uses during an 18-month holding period.

Gordon Brothers moved quickly to acquire the 64,835-square-foot medical office building in June 2021 as a value-add life sciences conversion with SSA with whom the Real Estate team has had a long, successful working partnership.

1828 El Camino Real was of great interest to our joint venture as the Bay Area life sciences market is home to over 250 life sciences firms, and demand for space continues to be strong. This building was the first to be zoned for life sciences uses in Burlingame and is within walking distance of a BART and Caltrain station. Additionally, the property was well suited for small suite sizes that we identified as an underserved niche.

Immediately after purchasing the multi-tenant, eight-story building, our joint venture began to convert the medical offices to life science spaces and marketed the available space. Together, we executed the conversion and leasing of the remaining suites to life science tenancies and completed capital upgrades to the building’s common areas before closing on the sale in December.

Gordon Brothers specializes in structuring complex, multi-asset transactions in the retail, industrial and office sectors and partner with operating companies and their investors to help overcome operational challenges during transformation. SSA benefitted from our experience as a knowledgeable and actionable real estate investor.

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