'Plans change in startup land…’ Cultivated meat co New Age Eats letting go of ‘90% complete’ pilot facility in Alameda, CA
In a linkedin post, founder and CEO Brian Spears said: “Plans change in startup land and we’re letting go of the food pilot manufacturing facility we have been building in Alameda, CA, right in the heart of the Bay Area’s growing food innovation hub, The Research Park at Marina Village.
“Construction is 90% complete (put your final touches on it!) and 80% paid for (we’re walking away from significant investment because, well, we have to). You’d be move-in ready in 1-2 months,” added Spears, a chemical engineer with a background in industrial automation.
The 23,000sq ft leased facility – featuring 13,000sq ft of manufacturing space and 10,000sq ft of food R&D labs and office space - is ideal for a growing food company looking to combine research, manufacturing, and commercial functions under one roof, added Spears, who raised $25m in a series A round in 2021 that he had hoped would allow him to begin manufacturing sausage products combining cell-cultured and plant-based meat at the site by late last year.
Spears told FoodNavigator-USA: "At this point, we're navigating a path forward with New Age Eats but don't have more to share."
Blue Rise Ventures: ‘A tenant can move in in one or two months’
Dan Poritzky, founder and managing partner at Blue Rise Ventures, a commercial real estate investor and operator and the landlord at the site, told us: "This is an incredible facility, class A, move-in ready. The Research Park campus has a lot of food tech companies. Shiru is here, Orbillion Bio is here, Eclipse is here, Terviva is here.
“If you move into that space, we're going to be a landlord that treats you like a partner. A tenant can move in in one or two months. There’s a finished product cold room, raw material cold room, a freezer room, QC lab and QC glas wash, clean compressed air, plant steam, process chilled water, chilled product water, all the utilities.
"So what you have in here, estimated is probably, over $700 per square foot of investment. We had two tours last week. We have three tours scheduled this week,” added Poritzky, who has another campus in Silicon Valley and is building another campus in West Sacramento.
Matt Elmquist and Deke Douty at real estate firm Cresa are representing New Age Eats and are currently marketing the facility. If readers want to learn more, please reach out to zryzdhvfg@perfn.pbz or qqbhgl@perfn.pbz.
