Shea Homes buys office park and 23 acres of undeveloped land in Scripps Ranch

One of the nation’s top homebuilders is considering building a multi-family housing project on at least a portion of recently acquired industrial land in Scripps Ranch just east of the neighborhood high school.

On Dec. 20, Scripps Ranch Community Partners LLC, a newly created entity linked to Shea Homes Inc., purchased the office park at 10277 Scripps Ranch Blvd. and 23 acres of neighboring undeveloped land from life science real estate developer Alexandria Real Estate Equities for $50 million, according to property records and regulatory filings.

The real estate is spread across five lots along Scripps Ranch Boulevard, Meanley Drive and Hoyt Park Drive, and includes four undeveloped parcels and the developed office park fronting Scripps Ranch Boulevard previously leased to CoreLogic.

The land in question, which has long been envisioned as a business park and more recently as a research campus, is zoned IP-2-1, which allows for a mix of industrial and office use. However, the city of San Diego’s development services department recently conducted preliminary reviews, on behalf of an unnamed applicant, to explore a zone change for the 5.4-acre 10277 Scripps Ranch Blvd. site to allow for residential use, public records show and a city spokesperson confirmed.

The preliminary reviews show that the applicant is contemplating converting the developed property from industrial use to residential use and performing associated rezoning, actions that are discretionary and would require a decision at a hearing, the spokesperson said.

Shea Homes declined an interview request. The developer is still formulating its plans for the five Scripps Ranch parcels and may retain the sites for its commercial division, a company spokesperson said.

Once contemplated as a future site for Intel, the large swath of acreage off of Scripps Ranch Boulevard, east of the high school and south of the public library, has traded hands several times, and in various forms, during the last 11 years.

In 2014, Murphy Development purchased much of then-Intel owned land for $28 million and master planned a research and development campus. In 2021 and 2022, Alexandria acquired four of the Murphy-owned parcels and three additional lots from different owners, including the office park at 10277 Scripps Ranch Blvd.

As recently as the summer, Alexandria was, at least on paper, planning to develop its holdings with a 600,000-square-foot research mega campus called Scripps Science Park, regulatory filings show. At the same time, the esteemed lab builder has told shareholders that it intends to shed assets outside of its preferred submarkets, which include Torrey Pines and University City in San Diego. The company said it sold off $1.1 billion worth of assets in the last three months of 2024.

The company doesn’t appear to be done offloading pieces of its San Diego portfolio. Recent remarks by Chief Financial Officer Marc Binda suggest additional sales at a loss are forthcoming.

In the fourth quarter, Alexandria accounted for $102.8 million worth of “impairments,” which is investor speak for a loss in value, “primarily related to multiple land parcels located in San Diego, some of which were sold in the fourth quarter and many of which will close next year,” Binda told shareholders and analysts on the earnings conference call.

Alexandria paid $59.6 million for the five parcels it sold to Shea Homes, property records show.

The developer still owns and operates the newly built, 144,000-square-foot research building at 10102 Hoyt Park Drive, which is fully leased to Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals through April 2038, according to property records and regulatory filings.

Founded in 1968, privately held Shea Homes is one of the largest homebuilders in the country. Pro Builder, a trade publication affiliated with the National Association of Home Builders, ranked Shea Homes as the 18th biggest home builder in the nation, based on 2023 revenue. Locally, the housing developer built the residential portion of Fox Point Farms in Encinitas and is one of three builders behind the 3Roots project in Mira Mesa.

Shea Homes is part of the Shea family of companies, which includes mixed-use retail, office and apartment developer Shea Properties. The Shea Properties portfolio in San Diego includes Del Sur Town Center and The Square at Bressi Ranch.