By Meghan Hall
In a move that could signify future expansion, Roche Molecular Systems has purchased the five building Central Campus office park in Santa Clara, Calif., for $140,475,500, or just around $450 per square foot, according to Santa Clara County public documents. The sale closed at the end of February, and the property was sold by a joint venture partnership between Presidio Investments and Rockpoint Group.
Previous documents show that Presidio and Rockpoint bought the 18.7-acre complex in 2011. The assessed value of the property at the time was $54.8 million. A marketing brochure from Colliers International indicates that two buildings in the campus — which totals 312,000 square feet — are vacant and preparing for tenancy. The two buildings total around 147,000 square feet. The larger of the buildings is around 100,000 square feet and three stories in height.
Roche Molecular Systems is part of the Basel, Switzerland-based global pharmaceutical conglomerate Roche, and it develops, manufactures and supplies diagnostic products and technologies. Its portfolio includes oncology, virology, microbiology, laboratories and blood banks around the world.
The campus park is located just off of State Route 101 and Scott Boulevard. Other major companies such as a Bank of America Financial Center, ServiceNow and Huawei Technologies are located nearby, while. Downtown Santa Clara is about 10 minutes away by car.
According to a 2018 fourth quarter office report released by Colliers, Silicon Valley’s gross domestic product now exceeds that of the United Kingdom and has become the fifth largest economy in the world. The unemployment rate has dropped to 2.4 percent, and despite rising costs, Santa Clara — and other metros within Silicon Valley — are highly desired by the world’s top technology, pharmaceutical and data science companies. Aggressive expansion, said Colliers, is likely to continue. The report states that as long as the Valley remains a magnet for tech talent, there will be high demand for complexes like Central Campus well into the future.
