July 24, 2000
At its Torrey Pines Science Center in San Diego, California, Slough Estates has started construction on the second phase of the 425,000sq ft pharmaceutical research campus being built for Agouron Pharmaceuticals, a research subsidiary of Pfizer.
Agouron took occupancy of the first 104,000 sq ft building in November 1998. The second phase of 129,000 sq ft will be ready for occupation in July 2001; the third phase of 102,000 sp ft will commence construction in November 2000 for delivery 12 months later and a final phase of 90,000 sq ft is scheduled for delivery in January 2004. The total project cost will be approximately $110 million. Lease periods range from 13 to 17 years and the leases benefit from annual rental escalations.
Agouron Pharmaceuticals was a venture capital health science company which developed a leading HIV treatment drug Viracept. In 1999 it was acquired by Warner Lambert which itself was recently acquired by Pfizer.
The 39 acre Torrey Pines Science Center was acquired by Slough Estates in 1997. Torrey Pines is the leading health science location in southern California being the home of the Scripps Research Institute, the Salk Institute and the University of California San Diego, as well as a research base for many large pharmaceutical companies including Novartis, Johnson & Johnson and Becton Dickinson. Greater San Diego is home to over 200 health science research companies.
At the Torrey Pines Science Center 300,000 sq ft has been developed to date including facilities for Depotech (Skypharma), the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, Sequenom and the Scripps Institute. In addition to the Agouron campus, a further 350,000 sq ft could be developed.
Slough Estates has become, over the last five years, a leading developer and investor in facilities for health science research in California. In addition to its Torrey Pines Science Center, San Diego, it has developed in South San Francisco some 725,000 sq ft of laboratory space at its Pointe Grand and Gateway business parks. A further site in South San Francisco has been acquired which is expected to obtain planning consent for over 500,000 sq ft of R&D and office space.