The shuttered Costa Verde Center, which takes up 13.9 acres of land just opposite Westfield UTC in University City, has a new owner with a different vision for the former strip mall that likely features housing as a primary use.
On Jan. 31, a newly registered limited liability company affiliated with real estate investment and management firm Global Mutual purchased the fenced off shopping center at 8560 Genesee Ave. for $124 million from life science developer Alexandria Real Estate Equities, property records show.
The London-based buyer is likely leaning on the local expertise of Luke Daniels and Michael Yanicelli, who are listed on the company’s website as the co-founders of GM Residential Partners LLC. The San Diego-based executives previously worked at residential developer Anton DevCo and together formed Cass Street Venture, LLC last year.
“Local San Diego developer, Cass Street Venture LLC, formed GM Residential Partners LLC with Global Mutual and has purchased the Costa Verde property,” said Ashley Johnson, who is the spokesperson for GM Residential. “In collaboration with Alexandria Real Estate, the team has begun work on a plan that will transform the transit-oriented site into a dynamic mixed-use property. More details are expected to be released later this year.”
Johnson declined to share project specifics. However, the change in ownership follows closely the approval of the University Community Plan Update. The new regulatory framework, which went into effect on Dec. 1, creates room for more than 30,000 additional residential units in the La Jolla-adjacent neighborhood. The plan designates the Costa Verde property as a mixed-use, “urban village” site, allowing up to 218 residential units per acre alongside office and retail uses.
Built in 1989, Costa Verde Center was a neighborhood shopping center anchored by Bristol Farms. The property, sandwiched between La Jolla Village Drive and Nobel Drive, has been mostly fenced off from public access — only the McDonald’s and Chevron on Nobel Drive remain open — ahead of the now-scuttled redevelopment plan that centered around life science.
The site is at the terminus of the UC San Diego Blue Line, where an elevated platform also connects to Westfield UTC on the east side of Genesse Avenue.
Prolific lab developer Alexandria purchased Costa Verde for $125 million in January 2022 after working with the previous land owner to win approval for an urban job center complemented by community shops, restaurants and a hotel. The since-abandoned plan envisioned 400,000 square feet of office and lab space, a 200-room hotel and 178,000 square feet of retail space. The project was approved by San Diego City Council in late 2020.
Last year, Alexandria telegraphed its intent to shift gears, citing the updated community plan.
Now research use is completely out of the picture. The grant deed includes a restriction that prohibits the new owner from using any portion of the property for life science use, which extends to most businesses engaged in improving human health such as pharmaceutical companies and medical device makers. The deed restriction runs with the land for 99 years, meaning future owners are also subject to the covenant.
The Costa Verde transaction is the latest in a series of recent property and land sales by Alexandria, including several in San Diego. The publicly traded firm has said it wants to unload assets outside of its mega campuses in premier submarkets. The company said it completed $1.1 billion of transactions in the last three months of 2024.
The deal appears to represent Global Mutual’s foray into the San Diego market. The firm’s portfolio is concentrated in the United Kingdom. Global Mutual owns a few properties in Southern California and Arizona, including a boutique hotel in Santa Monica and an apartment complex in Phoenix, according to real estate tracker CoStar.
