San Diego and Newport Beach, Calif. – Bixby Land Company has sold AERO, a 92,463-square-foot office building at 9797 Aero Drive in San Diego, Calif. to AVID Center for $30.1 million, or $326 per square foot. The sale follows Bixby’s inventive redesign of the building, a $5 million repositioning that transformed the project to meet the contemporary work environment needs of today’s progressive companies.
“This project presented the opportunity to take an innovative approach in developing a building unlike anything else in the Kearny Mesa submarket,” said Bill Halford, president and CEO of Bixby Land Company.
Bixby’s extensive development plan included the full renovation of the single-tenant facility, plus the addition of approximately 20,000 square feet of leasable area. Designed by Gensler & Associates, the improvements included upgrading the east elevation with new window glazing and red rectangular framing elements. Custom overhead doors open up the building to the outdoor areas, a feature that has been well received by tenants in several Bixby projects throughout California.
Amenities include the signature Bixby Retreat™, an energetic outdoor gathering area, a fitness center with showers, bicycle storage, a lobby lounge area, and garage parking. Tenant spaces feature polished concrete floors, exposed ceilings and open floor plans to accommodate flexible and creative interior designs.
“We’re committed to an investment and development strategy that adds significant value through the thoughtful redesign of buildings that represent the forefront of contemporary work environments,” added Aaron Hill, executive vice president and chief operating office of Bixby Land Company.
The project is currently leased to Berkley Insurance and Vital Decisions, and will be almost fully leased when buyer AVID Center, a San Diego-based college readiness system designed to increase schoolwide learning and performance, takes occupancy of the majority of the remaining vacant space.
The buyer was represented by John Jarvis, senior vice president at Hughes Marino, while Bixby was represented by Derek Hulse, managing director at Cushman & Wakefield.
