Harbor Associates in joint venture with Platform Ventures, LLC has acquired a 118,906-square-foot commercial office/R&D building in Agoura Hills for $19.275 million.

Harbor also announced the signing of A2 Biotherapeutics (“A2 Bio”) to a long-term, 75,994-square-foot lease at the building located at 30601 Agoura Road, which will serve as A2 Bio’s new global headquarters. A2 Bio has invented the Tmod™ cell therapy platform to tackle the fundamental challenge in solid tumor treatment—the ability of cancer medicines to distinguish between tumor and normal cells. A2 Bio expands its presence in Agoura Hills as it will continue to occupy ~30,000 square feet in neighboring buildings. The new headquarters for A2 Bio will feature approximately 70 percent lab and R&D space with the remaining 30 percent devoted to collaboration space.

The two-story multi-tenant building is located at the eastern gateway of the Conejo Valley, which includes one of Southern California’s major life science clusters. Stretching from northwestern Los Angeles County to southeastern Ventura County which includes Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village and Agoura Hills, the Conejo Valley is home to one of the most significant life science clusters in Southern California. Nearly 70 life and bio science firms such as Amgen, Baxter, Allergan and Takeda currently occupy approximately 4.3 million square feet of space in the Conejo Valley.

“Located at the eastern gateway of the Conejo Valley, Agoura Hills is more convenient than Thousand Oaks for bio tech recruiting talent from the San Fernando Valley, Downtown and West Los Angeles. “We were able to identify a well-located building that was prime for multi-tenant life science conversion while helping A2 Bio meet its business objectives.” said Principal Rich McEvoy.

The 11-year lease with A2 Bio is an example of the demand for space by life science and bio-tech firms across the U.S. According to CBRE, at the end of 2021, office-to-lab conversions in the 12 largest U.S. life sciences markets, which includes Los Angeles, amounted to 9.9 million square feet, up 49% from the beginning of the year.

In January of 2020, Harbor acquired Agoura Hill Business Park, an adjacent 114,325-square-foot office project in Agoura Hills, and made improvements to the building to attract the life science groups expanding into the area, which included A2 Bio. Between 30601 Agoura Road and Agoura Hills Business Park, Harbor Associates is delivering a variety of market ready R&D / lab spaces, ranging in size from 2,000 -18,000 square feet, readymade with appropriate infrastructure and designed to meet the growing demand in Agoura Hills.

A2 Bio, is expected to take occupancy in the second half of 2023. The Harbor-led joint venture will add relevant on-site amenities to create an attractive workplace environment that will help A2 Bio, and others, attract and retain talent. Improvements include an expansive outdoor meeting and social spaces, upgraded building lobby, drought tolerant landscaping, exterior building enhancements and signage.

Jay Rubin and Jared Smits of Lee & Associates advised the seller. Mark Perry of CBRE represented the buyer in the transaction. Rick Pearson of Cushman & Wakefield represented A2 in the lease negotiations.