BioLife Plasma Services Signs Ground Lease to Open Second Location in Tucson – CBRE

CBRE arranged the ground lease on a 15,000-sq.-ft. retail development that will bring BioLife Plasma Services to Northwest Tucson. The location, which marks BioLife’s second center in Tucson and seventh in Arizona, is currently under construction and slated to open in 2023.

CBRE’s Nancy McClure handled ground lease negotiations for the landlord, Solar Holdings, LLC.

Located on the southwest corner of North Oracle Road and West Auto Mall Drive, the collection center is being built on an undeveloped freestanding pad in an existing shopping center across the street from Tucson Mall and adjacent to the Tucson Auto Mall. With this lease, the shopping center is 100 percent occupied. Other tenants include David’s Bridal, Chic-fil-A and Dutch Bros Coffee.

“We’ve seen more medical users looking to locate in retail properties because of the convenience-factor of being easy to find, having key locations in core properties, and plenty of parking,” said Nancy McClure, a First Vice President in CBRE’s Tucson office. “This property had the required zoning for the use and its location enjoys the draw of people within a regional mall hub.”

Founded in 2002, BioLife is a leader in the collection of high-quality plasma that is processed into life-saving, plasma-based therapies. The company operates more than 170 plasma centers in 35 states across the country and employs approximately 8,000 people. Each center represents a $3 to $6 million initial investment and contributes an average of $2 to $3 million in annual donor compensation – 80 percent of which is spent within the community, according to BioLife. BioLife is a part of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, a global biopharmaceutical company.

Tucson recorded over 100,000 sq. ft. of planned and proposed retail space under construction at the end of the second quarter of 2022, according to CBRE Research. These developments included shopping centers and restaurants within the Southwest and Southeast submarkets, as well as The Landing, a 64,000-sq.-ft. shopping center that marked the metro’s first large-scale retail construction in the past three years.