By Meghan Hall
Gemini Rosemount, a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate investor, has purchased the four building Central Technology Park in Santa Clara for $170.52 million, or about $462 per square foot, according to public documents filed with the county. The seller was Mountain View, Calif.-based Sobrato Organization, who in a rare move placed the property up for sale at the end of February. The 369,000 square foot property sold for higher than its expected value; according to previous reporting done by The Registry at the time, the property has a value of around $165 million, or about $448 per square foot.
Eastdil Secured’s San Jose office marketed the property for sale.
The property, located at 3380-3420 Central Expressway, is considered to be a mixture of office and R&D space. Each building on the 18.3-acre site is two stories, and the property was originally developed between 1980 and 1987. Recently, however, Sobrato has spent close to $62 million in renovations to the building, and according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal, none of the leases in the building expire before 2023. At the time the property was put up for sale, Sobrato did not comment on the company’s strategy for disposing of the asset.
Some of the complex’s tenants include Nissan, who leased 90,000 square feet in the complex in May of 2018. Intuitive Surgical, Thermo Fisher and Cloudinary are also tenants, with Intuitive Surgical’s 210,000 square foot lease, arranged earlier this year, being the largest.
Gemini Rosemont was founded in 1992 as a partnership of Gemini Investments, a Hong Kong-based investment company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In April of this year Gemini Rosemount announced that it had strategically relocated its corporate headquarters to Los Angeles, signing a long-term lease at 2000 Avenue of the Stars. The company was previously headquartered in Santa Fe, N.M. Currently, the firm has approximately 8 million square feet of commercial office space, and upwards of $250 million in equity to deploy, according to its website.
“We’re entering the next phase of our multi-pronged initiative to acquire Class A assets in the office sector in targeted, tech-centric coastal and gateway markets, and opportunistically in select target markets across the U.S.,” said Ian Brownlow, chief executive officer for Gemini Rosemont at the time of the company’s relocation. “We will leverage our deep market knowledge and our impressive 25-year track record to identify and acquire those office buildings in which we can unlock value, provide superior tenant services and deliver enhanced returns to our investors.”
While Santa Clara has one of the highest direct vacancy rates in Silicon Valley at 19.3 percent, capital markets activity remains strong, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s first quarter Office Marketbeat. Sales prices across Silicon Valley during Q1 ranged from $334 per square foot to $710 per square foot, and investor optimism for tech-driven real estate continues to surge. Properties with value-add components have been particularly attractive for investors, states Cushman & Wakefield, as they provide a component of stability and in-place income. Looking forward, Cushman & Wakefield predicts that investor interest in Santa Clara and tech-occupied assets will remain strong.
