A conversion plan for a thriving campus

In the heart of Boulder's emerging innovation corridor, Pearl East presented a unique opportunity to transform a traditional suburban office park into a life science destination. While the property had limited existing lab infrastructure when we took ownership, we saw the potential to create a broader ecosystem that would serve Boulder's growing scientific community in a vibrant campus setting. 

A vision for innovation

Our strategy centered on repositioning Pearl East as a premier life science destination while honoring Boulder's distinctive culture and natural surroundings. Key initiatives included:

• Created flexible lab solutions for any team by developing both move-in ready spec suites and customizable lab spaces to suit a wide range of tenants. This dual approach allowed us to serve both emerging and established life science companies, creating a diverse community in the process.  

• Created a central hub for creativity with a maker space, lounge, and an art gallery.

• Reimagined core amenity centers to create a state-of-the-art fitness center and training rooms, along with spacious, energizing conference rooms for teams to connect.

• Enhanced campus identity through thoughtful environmental design and wayfinding. Our design approach was carefully crafted to blend into the Boulder lifestyle, so that the campus reflected and elevated its surroundings across its signage, landscaping, and more.     

• Upgraded building systems to support advanced research and development activities for teams innovating at the forefront of life science.  

• Developed plans for solar carports to be integrated into the parking areas and onto the roofs of several buildings. The solar electricity that would be generated from these solar systems would be used to directly power the property and reduce our carbon footprint in the process. 
   

Capitalizing on strong momentum  

Today, Pearl East is a thriving campus for innovation. At 90%+ occupancy, it’s home to a diverse mix of life science and creative technology tenants. Rents for laboratory space have significantly outperformed our initial underwriting projections, demonstrating strong demand for thoughtfully designed life science facilities in Boulder and beyond. Looking forward, we have plans to continue building on this momentum as we’ve obtained entitlements to develop an additional lab building on campus.

Data current as of February 2025