NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Illumina announced yesterday that it has signed a 15-year lease with BioMed Realty Trust for a 360,000-square-foot, build-to-suit campus in Foster City, Calif.
The San Diego-based sequencing technology company will build two Class A laboratories as well as office buildings targeted to receive LEED Gold Certification, employing sustainable materials and advanced technology to reach the "highest levels of sustainability and energy efficiency," BioMed Realty Trust said in a statement. The campus will offer many amenities including a large central quad with an outdoor amphitheater, recreation fields, and meeting spaces.
"Employee collaboration and innovation are foundational to Illumina's success. In addition to our new Mission Bay location, this campus will provide us with an opportunity to bring together employees from several different sites as we continue to optimize and grow our presence in the Bay Area," Illumina CFO Marc Stapley said in the statement. "We also expect this campus will provide stronger ties with our customers and partners, while establishing a state-of-the-art work environment to retain and attract the most talented employees in our industry."
The firm also has an option to expand the campus with the development of a third building providing an additional 160,000 square feet, which would bring the campus to a total of 520,000 square feet.
According to a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the aggregate rent during the initial term of the lease is expected to be approximately $204 million.
In February 2014, Illumina launched the inaugural session of an accelerator program in its new facility in San Francisco's Mission Bay area.