RAF Pacifica Introduces Creative Office Development

By Gail Kalinoski

Lift Development, Carlsbad, Calif.

RAF Pacifica Group, a San Diego-based firm known for its creative industrial developments in Southern California, is breaking ground on the first ground-up creative office project in the Carlsbad, Calif., submarket.

Known as ‘lift’, the two-story property will be comprised of 44,797 square feet of office space and 8,496 square feet of restaurant space. The $26 million project is expected to be completed in 2018.

“The project will give office users a hub of innovative, amenity-rich space that integrates lifestyle elements such as on-site fitness and restaurants with open-plan, high-end space and energy-efficient buildings in a communal quad atmosphere,” Adam Robinson, founder & principal of RAF Pacifica, said in a prepared statement.

It’s also one of three new developments totaling more than $75 million that RAF Pacifica has begun constructing in the Carlsbad area. The other projects include one of the firm’s creative industrial properties and also a build-to-suit for local fashion brand San Diego Hat Co. that was announced in late August.

“The Carlsbad market is brimming with tenant demand for highly functional, truly creative space, and we are the first in the market to begin meeting that demand,” Robinson said.

Robinson noted that Carlsbad has had rapid growth in recent years, particularly with the life science and biotech sectors.

“Despite this rapid growth throughout the region, there is relatively no creative product in the pipeline with the exception of our developments. We recognize there is a tremendous opportunity to fill a deep need in the market, and for that reason we are actively developing more than 750,000 square feet of highly creative product in Carlsbad alone,” he added.

Diving Into the Creative Industrial Space

RAF Pacifica is also developing projects in San Marcos, Calif., and Solana Beach, Calif., and has more than one million square feet of projects under way throughout Southern California. But it’s Carlsbad where the privately-held commercial real estate investment firm has put much of its focus.

The 83,000-square-foot build-to-suit distribution facility for the San Diego Hat Co. is also under way and will include 10,000 square feet of office and mezzanine space on the first floor, six dock loading doors and 28-foot clear heights. It is expected to be completed by second quarter 2018.

The third project that has recently broken ground is cre•ate , a 146,108-square-foot creative industrial building that will cost $34 million to develop and feature eight dock-high doors, four grade-level doors and a floor-to-ceiling glass entry along with outdoor amenities. The spec project is due for completion in the second half of 2018.

RAF Pacifica has three other ground-up creative industrial projects in development in North County San Diego. They total more than 500,000 square feet and will cost approximately $110 million to development. Delivery is also expected in 2018.

They are:

• el•e•vate (156,977 square feet, nearing completion and 80 percent pre-leased)
• dis•trib•ute (277,410 square feet)
• vec •tor (171,098 square feet)

Robinson said the creative industrial projects are designed to offer creative elements along with highly functional industrial space that could enable tenants to save costs and increase efficiency by combining their corporate headquarters and operations in one location.

Photo courtesy of RAF Pacifica Group