A coastal San Diego office campus just changed hands for $43 million, a price tag that shows investors are still willing to pay up for well-located Del Mar Heights space. The two-building Plaza Del Mar complex at 12520 and 12526 High Bluff Drive was acquired by a partnership led by Bridgeway Real Estate Partners with LBX Investments, which is planning a value-add refresh as it re-leases the property. The deal is the latest sign that demand for high-quality suburban office space remains strong in select pockets of San Diego.
Bridgeway and LBX closed on the roughly 120,000-square-foot campus with acquisition financing arranged by CBRE's debt and structured-finance team, according to CBRE. Scott Peterson, Mark McGovern, Colby Matzke and Michael Kolcum secured the debt on behalf of the new ownership, while CBRE brokers Mike Hoeck, Chris Pascale and Ellycia Walker have been tapped to lead leasing. "Del Mar Heights continues to stand out as the most vibrant office submarket in San Diego," Walker said in the release.
Plaza Del Mar's condition and planned work
Offering materials show the campus was about 60% leased at the time of sale, framing it as a straightforward value-add play for buyers looking to lift occupancy and rents. The listing, marketed by Newmark, and online materials detail the nearly 120,000-square-foot, two-building layout and outline a slate of improvements, including upgrades to the courtyard, parking areas and entries, plus tenant-suite renovations to get space market-ready, according to Revere. A separate brochure highlights available suites of roughly 1,100 to 7,500 square feet, illustrating how the campus can be carved up for small and mid-size tenants, per Colliers.
Why buyers keep circling Del Mar Heights
Market research and brokerage chatter point to both rising rents and a healthy tenant pipeline. CBRE has noted that recent deals at the north end of High Bluff Drive have reached or surpassed about $6 per square foot per month, part of a broader flight-to-quality trend where tenants trade up into newer or better-located space. Local reporting has also tried to put a number on that demand, with roughly 45 active groups reportedly hunting for space in the submarket, according to the San Diego Business Journal. Put together, those dynamics help explain why buyers were willing to pay about $352 per square foot for Plaza Del Mar.
What's next for tenants and the neighborhood
Bridgeway plans to lean into an indoor-outdoor courtyard experience while readying market-ready suites and relying on CBRE to backfill the remaining space, according to Connect CRE. Early indications are that ownership will focus on suite-level and amenity upgrades rather than a full redevelopment, a strategy that could add weekday foot traffic to nearby retailers and restaurants around One Paseo and Del Mar Highlands. For tenants, the move signals both opportunity and pressure: more modern, smaller footprints close to the coast, but in a market where the competition for that kind of space is very real.
