Alexandria Real Estate Equities quietly unloaded a fully leased, one-story office building in Carlsbad on Wednesday for $64.1 million, a price that drives home just how far some coastal office properties have fallen from their peak. The deal is another data point in the ongoing markdown of suburban creative-office campuses that were once treated like trophy assets.
According to CoStar, the buyer of record is MJ Make LLC, and the sale pencils out to roughly $354 per square foot. CoStar identifies the property as the one-story building at 5600 Avenida Encinas and notes that the latest price came in significantly below its previous trade.
Commercial property databases and archived listings show that Alexandria acquired the site in 2021 as part of a larger portfolio play, which gives this 2026 exit a pretty stark point of comparison. CommercialSearch documented earlier portfolio activity, including the Avenida Encinas asset.
Market Pressure Pushing Prices Down
Office deals have been coming in at discounts across many U.S. markets as hybrid work patterns and higher interest rates thin out the buyer pool. Yardi Research data, summarized by CommercialCafe, shows that a large share of office trades since 2023 have closed below their prior sale prices, a trend that has dragged down values in San Diego and other coastal metros.
Alexandria's Capital Recycling Plan
Alexandria has been clear that selling off non-core properties is part of a broader capital strategy, with proceeds earmarked to support development and shareholder-focused moves. In recent investor materials, the REIT said that disposition proceeds can help fund stock buybacks and other capital priorities, which helps explain the push to clean up peripheral holdings.
The building, often referred to in industry coverage as the "Make" campus, has attracted a mix of lifestyle and tech tenants over the years, including Vuori and a small Walmart tech outpost, which helped keep occupancy steady even as pricing in the market reset. CoStar has tracked those tenant shifts over the past few years.
Recent North County deals suggest investors are still willing to chase coastal suburban assets when cap rates and perceived risk finally line up. Last October, Newmark arranged the sale of a nearby Carlsbad campus that drew competitive bidding. Newmark said that the transaction underscored a selective but real appetite for the submarket.
For now, the lesson is blunt: even fully leased, coastal office campuses can sell at sharp discounts when owner priorities collide with current pricing. The official story will be locked in once the San Diego County Recorder posts the deed and transfer documents, which will confirm the buyer's details and exact closing date.
