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Project Outline
GVA Kidder Mathews was hired in September
1997 to assist Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in the divestiture of their
Seattle Pharmaceutical Research Institute, which was comprised of three
separate buildings totaling 135,000 square feet. Given the specialty
nature of the laboratory improvements, it was determined that a sale to
a user requiring such elaborate lab infrastructure would generate the
highest price. If a user sale was not possible in the timeframe that
Bristol-Meyers Squibb Company allowed for the divestiture process, we
presumed that a lease, or leases, for a substantial portion of the
premises may trigger an investment sale. A broad North American and
International marketing effort was employed to attract an owner/user or
potential lessee.
Services Provided
In the first week of December, after a
twelve-week, intensive, local, and national campaign, we secured a
credit tenant for two of the three buildings, which created the
possibility of a sale to an investor. We negotiated the general
terms of the transaction and packaged it to the investment
community. By mid-December, we identified three qualified buyers
from the ten or more seriously interested parties. These
prospective purchasers went through a formal bid process that
included both price and conditions of sale, and a finalist was
selected. The purchase and sale agreement was signed within one
week, with contingency removals three weeks later, subject to
execution of a lease for 40,975 square feet. The lease was executed
at the end of February, and the sale closing occurred five days
later. After an intense marketing campaign, the balance of the
building, 70,000 square feet, was leased to Dendreon, a company
relocating to Seattle from the Silicon Valley.
Result
To summarize, we needed to find a buyer
that was able to work under the auspices of a complicated University of
Washington lease that required substantial landlord investment in the
property; and this had to be negotiated and documented under very tight
timeframes. We also needed a buyer who understood the inherent value of
vacant lab space in the Seattle marketplace and recognized the viability
and value of that asset in this growing market segment. We were able to
achieve all of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company objectives by controlling
the process in the eventual sale to Alexandria Real Estate Equities, San
Diego, California.
Key individuals from our company involved
in this transaction include our appraisal and our property management
and engineering divisions, who helped us identify the key components of
the building.
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