The former headquarters of Glaukos Corp. (NYSE: GKOS) in San Clemente traded this month for $13.7 million.
The deal for the R&D building, which runs 40,728 square feet and is a few miles inland from the Santa Ana (5) Freeway, worked out to about $330 per square foot.
The seller, a joint venture between Los Angeles-based Excelsior Partners LLC and Ventura-based Marcus Adams Properties LLC, transferred the assets to real estate investment firm BlackHawk Property Holdings.
BlackHawk came out on top of a competitive buying process, which saw more than three potential buyers interested in the property, according to brokers.
The joint venture that sold the building, located at 229 Avenida Fabricante, previously paid $10 million for the facility.
The building was 100% leased to Glaukos at the time of the transaction.
The Aliso Viejo-based healthcare company, which focuses on making treatments for glaucoma, currently uses the facility for the assembly of medical devices.
Glaukos recently executed an early lease extension through 2030 on 229 Avenida Fabricante.
“This building is a safe investment” for BlackHawk, Colliers Executive VP Ryan Plummer told the Business Journal. “It has a pretty committed tenant and doesn’t require intense management.”
Glaukos, which was valued at around $3.7 billion as of last week, also leases 236 Avenida Fabricante across the street. The company recently invested to upgrade that facility, which it uses as another manufacturing center for new medical devices.
Colliers’ Plummer, Vice Chair Sean Fulp and Executive VP Mark Schuessler brokered the deal on behalf of the seller. Daum Commercial Executive VP Gavin Denniston represented the buyer.
Chapman Alum
BlackHawk doesn’t have any plans to renovate the building, which it acquired in a 1031 exchange.
“It’s great mailbox money—a completely passive investment,” Plummer added.
BlackHawk is led by Tilden Smith, who is the chairman of BlackHawk Manufacturing Group, a supplier of parts for automakers in Garden Grove.
He previously co-founded International Pet Solutions LLC, which he started in 2010 while attending Chapman University in Orange as a business and economics major.
Industrial Investor
Excelsior and Marcus Adams parted with 229 Avenida Fabricante because the property did not match the joint venture’s acquisition criteria, Plummer said.
The firms primarily invest in industrial distribution properties rather than lab space, according to Plummer.
Glaukos currently uses 229 Avenida Fabricante to produce its iStent inject, a device used during cataract surgery to treat glaucoma.
The company last year moved its headquarters from the facility to its current campus in Aliso Viejo. The move marked a major expansion of Glaukos’ headquarters, which now spans 160,000 square feet at 1 Glaukos Way, about four times the size of 229 Avenida Fabricante.
