While the commercial office sector in Southern California has largely struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, properties in San Diego’s Kearny Mesa submarket are continuing to draw interest. One such property has recently been placid on the market. Located at 4180 Ruffin Road, the property offers 73,033 square feet of space as well as various value-add opportunities.
According to the property listing by CBRE, the property was built in 1986 and consists of two two-story buildings on 3.64 acres of land. The property is listed as unpriced and last traded in 2021 when it was acquired by Gleich Real Estate Co., property records show.
The office asset is currently 84 percent occupied by a diverse tenant roster, which includes Caterpillar Inc., Epsilon Systems and law firm Patrico, Hermanson & Guzman.
The building also recently received numerous upgrades, such as new bathrooms, a lobby and modern spec suites. The property also offers high ceilings, spare acreage and other features that could allow for redevelopment into a creative office building or life science property, according to CBRE.
In general, Kearny Mesa continues to draw interest from commercial and life science investors alike due to its prominent location near the San Diego International Airport, Downtown San Diego and major freeways, like Interstates 805 and 15.
Throughout the pandemic, the Kearny Mesa submarket has remained relatively strong, according to CBRE. For similar class B office buildings, they vacancy rate over the past five years has averaged 5.51 percent. This is partially due to life science conversions, with about 10 percent – about 4.6 million square feet – of total office inventory in Central San Diego being converted into life science space.
