Healthpeak Acquires San Diego Lab Campus Debt and Equity, Plans $233M in Life Science Buys

Healthpeak Properties, Inc. (NYSE: DOC) acquired the senior construction loan and the remaining equity interest in HQ Point, a lab campus in San Diego's Sorrento Mesa submarket, for a combined $105 million on Sept. 30, 2026, the company announced Nov. 2 with its third-quarter 2026 results. The purchase is part of a broader Healthpeak program to acquire, or contract to acquire, four life science buildings totaling approximately 510,000 square feet across three campuses for approximately $233 million.

Healthpeak Life Science Acquisitions at a Glance

HQ Point is a two-building, 236,000-square-foot lab campus that is currently 29% occupied. The price works out to roughly $445 per square foot. Healthpeak said each acquisition is part of, or an extension of, an existing Healthpeak campus where its local scale and relationships position it to drive near-term leasing.

Healthpeak is also under contract to acquire two life science properties that are expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 or early 2027, subject to customary closing conditions:

• South San Francisco: A 145,000-square-foot life science building for approximately $92 million, or roughly $634 per square foot. The property is 49% occupied and sits adjacent to an existing 146,000-square-foot Healthpeak life science building, and between The Cove and The Shore, two Healthpeak campuses totaling more than 2 million square feet.
• Cambridge: The remaining 51% ownership interest in 100 Acorn Park Drive, a 129,000-square-foot life science building on the Cambridge Discovery Park campus, for approximately $36 million, or roughly $279 per square foot. The property is 53% occupied. Upon closing, Healthpeak will own 100% of the 605,000-square-foot Cambridge Discovery Park campus.

The three transactions have a blended in-place occupancy of 41%, a current cash yield of approximately 5% and an expected stabilized cash yield of approximately 9% to 10%, according to the company. The per-square-foot figures are not strictly comparable: the HQ Point transaction consolidates a loan and equity position, while the Cambridge deal buys a minority interest in an existing building rather than a full property.

Market Conditions in San Diego and Greater Boston

Healthpeak is buying into markets with elevated vacancy. In San Diego, overall life science vacancy reached a cycle-high 27.6% in the third quarter of 2026, while average asking rent fell to $5.52 per square foot per month, down 3.4% year over year. That environment gives buyers negotiating leverage but also adds leasing risk for an asset such as HQ Point, which is 29% occupied.

Cambridge also remains challenging. Greater Boston had approximately 5.7 million square feet available in Cambridge, equal to about 32% of inventory, while market-weighted asking rents had declined approximately 25%. Landlords have been using lower rents, larger concessions and speculative build-outs to compete for tenants. CBRE reported Greater Boston vacancy of 28.9% and availability of 33.1% in the third quarter, with negative quarterly absorption of 168,430 square feet; Cambridge accounted for 307,103 square feet of that negative absorption.

The gap between the roughly 5% current yield and the 9% to 10% projected stabilized yield means the investment case depends largely on occupancy gains and rent negotiations rather than existing contractual income.

Healthpeak Q3 2026 Financial and Leasing Results

Healthpeak reported third-quarter net income of $0.02 per diluted share and FFO as Adjusted of $0.44 per share, compared with a net loss of $0.17 per share and FFO as Adjusted of $0.46 per share in the year-earlier quarter. Total same-store adjusted NOI rose 3.6%, led by senior housing at 25.9% and outpatient medical at 3.1%. Lab same-store adjusted NOI declined 0.7%.

In the lab segment, the company executed new and renewal leases totaling 480,000 square feet in the quarter and 1 million square feet year to date. Since the end of the quarter, 643,000 square feet of lab leases have been executed or are under letter of intent. Total lab occupancy increased 130 basis points sequentially and is up 270 basis points since year-end 2025.

Outpatient medical lease executions totaled 846,000 square feet in the quarter and 3.2 million square feet year to date, with another 1.3 million square feet executed or under letter of intent since quarter-end.

In October 2026, Healthpeak acquired Westway One, a 146,000-square-foot Class A medical training facility in Houston, for $38 million. The property is 100% leased to affiliates of HCA Healthcare with 11 years of remaining lease term, and the deal reflects an initial capitalization rate of approximately 7.4%.

Janus Living, Brookfield Joint Venture and Balance Sheet

Janus Living (NYSE: JAN), Healthpeak's majority-owned senior housing REIT, reported third-quarter revenue of $268 million, up 78% year over year, and Adjusted EBITDAre of $105 million, up 101%. It closed $1.75 billion of senior housing acquisitions during the quarter and completed approximately $370 million more through Oct. 30. Healthpeak owns 214.7 million shares and operating partnership units, a 69% equity stake.

In July 2026, Healthpeak formed a joint venture with affiliates of Brookfield Asset Management by contributing an 86-property outpatient medical portfolio valued at approximately $2.1 billion. Healthpeak received proceeds of approximately $1.025 billion for the sale of a 49% interest.

Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDAre was 4.7x at Sept. 30. In October, Healthpeak entered a $500 million unsecured delayed-draw term loan facility maturing in October 2030, priced at SOFR plus 80 basis points and undrawn at closing. As of Oct. 30, the company had $3.8 billion of liquidity.

Guidance and Dividend

Healthpeak raised its full-year 2026 diluted FFO as Adjusted guidance to $1.76 to $1.78 per share from $1.73 to $1.77, and raised total same-store cash (adjusted) NOI growth guidance to 0.5% to 2.0% from 0% to 1.5%. Diluted earnings per share guidance fell to $0.39 to $0.41 from $0.48 to $0.52, which the company attributed primarily to depreciation and amortization tied to Janus Living's senior housing acquisitions. That expense is excluded from FFO as Adjusted.

The board declared a monthly dividend of $0.10167 per share for October, November and December, an annualized $1.22 per share. Healthpeak scheduled a conference call and webcast for Nov. 3 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

Outlook

The acquisitions reflect a strategy of accepting low initial occupancy in exchange for campus-level control in established research clusters. Whether Healthpeak can convert that position into leasing velocity before concessions and falling rents erode the projected stabilized returns is the central question for the lab acquisitions as the HQ Point transaction is complete and the other two are expected to close by early 2027.

Sources

• Healthpeak Properties, Inc., "Healthpeak Properties Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results and Increases Full Year 2026 Earnings Guidance," Nov. 2, 2026: https://ir.healthpeak.com/news/news-details/2026/Healthpeak-Properties-Reports-Third-Quarter-2026-Results-and-Increases-Full-Year-2026-Earnings-Guidance/default.aspx