Media and gaming enterprises have long been the commercial industry’s darlings across Southern California, and the geography’s strong strong draw has been reinforced by a recent lease that brings one of the gaming world’s biggest names to Carlsbad. Rockstar Games, the maker of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, has leases 82,000 square feet in Carlsbad at Drawbridge Realty’s Pacific View Corporate Center. The property, located at 5759 Fleet Street is now fully occupied by the gaming company, according to a San Diego third quarter of 2021 office market report by brokerage firm Kidder Mathews.
The building is a two-story property that Drawbridge recently renovated with a new lobby, some landscaping and by installing a number of outdoor amenities with views of the Pacific Ocean.
Some of the most active leases in San Diego have been driven by life science and technology companies during the third quarter, according to Kidder Mathews. This has driven some traditionally office assets to even consider converting to biotech properties, however in many cases this seems more difficult to execute in reality.
On the life science front, Kilroy Realty leased over 277,000 square feet to Tandem Diabetes Care and DermTech in the Del Mar Heights/Carmel Valley submarket. Technology behemoth Apple came in strong in the quarter, as well, taking down 165,000 square feet across two properties in the University Town Center submarket from the Irvine Company and American Assets Trust.
Rockstar’s lease at 82,000 square feet was also featured in the Kidder Mathews report as an example of companies actively expanding even as the uncertainty stemming from the global COVID pandemic lingers.
The Carlsbad market is the largest of the North County submarket of San Diego, representing roughly half, or 6.9 million square feet, of the 12.9 million square foot office market located there. The total available rate in Carlsbad is also the highest among the North County cities, and it hit 18.9 percent during the third quarter. Even though Carlsbad experienced negative absorption during this period, the total leasing activity was highest among submarket cities, and the average direct rental rate at $2.73 is the priciest in North County.
