Mann Biomedical Park Sold

The Mann Biomedical Park on Rye Canyon Road has been sold to Santa Clarita contractor Dale Donohoe of Intertex Companies, Donohoe confirmed Wednesday.

“Escrow just closed late Tuesday afternoon,” Donohoe said.

Investment firm Oaktree Capital Management partnered with Donohoe in a deal that took months to put together.

Broker Craig Peters from CBRE represented both the buyer and the seller.

“We worked on it for hours every day for five months,” Donohoe said. “This was the most complicated deal we’ve ever done.”

Terms of the deal haven’t been released yet, but Donohoe said the purchase was a “pretty good size deal” even for Oaktree, a $96 billion fund.

“The biomedical park’s sale to a local person with long-term ties to Santa Clarita who will be part of the project is exciting,” said Holly Schroeder, president and CEO of the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation.

Local ownership also means a “fantastic opportunity to expand the medical device cluster” in the Santa Clarita Valley, Schroeder said.

Originally the site of the Lockheed Martin aerospace firm, the park was purchased in 2002 by biotech pioneer Alfred Mann. At the time, Peters represented the former sellers of the park.

“We’re very excited. It’s the best asset in the valley as far as a property,” Donohoe said.

The biomedical park is 90 percent leased, according to a CBRE sales brochure. The property was debt free.

Donohoe’s plan is to lease out the remaining buildings and then upgrade the older structures.

He said there is 880,000 square feet of space for more construction, and Donohoe estimates he’ll probably develop about 600,000 square feet of that space.

The nearly 120-acre biomedical business center is surrounded by a park-like setting and is home to companies like Boston Scientific, Bioness, Quallion, the Alfred Mann Foundation and more.

“With this deal, we can further nourish Santa Clarita’s reputation as a center for medical device innovation,” Schroeder said.