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Savills turns focus to life science needs.

Savills, a commercial real estate brokerage with offices in Del Mar, is expanding its San Diego operations as part of an overall drive by the firm to strengthen its life science practice.

In San Diego, the move includes adding a lab planner, Shannon Haldeman.

“As our clients demand a more specialized approach to solving their complex real estate needs, it’s imperative that they have access to a deep bench of talented professionals with extensive work experience in the sciences, said Austin Barrett, executive vice president and North American life science practices lead at Savills.

By adding people with a science background rather than a real estate background, Barrett said that Savills can offer expanding life science and tech companies better informed advice.

“Traditionally, most brokerage transactions are done with two brokers in a room and a client,” Barrett said. “What we’re trying to do is bring different skill sets to the table, thinking more scientific modality verses geography.”

Haldeman had been a laboratory manager and safety specialist at Ambrix, a pharmaceutical company based in La Jolla.

Haldeman received a master’s degree in health services research and policy and public health from the University of Pittsburg and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

More people with similar backgrounds in the sciences will likely be added in San Diego over the next year, Barrett said.

The move to strengthen its presence in the life science market follows Savills’ June 2021 acquisition of T3 Advisors, a real estate consulting firm for life science and tech companies that was founded in Boston in 2001.

The company was rebranded T3 Advisors, A Savills Company.

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San Diego’s life science market, which had been on fire for the past two years, has slowed because of volatility in the stock market, uncertainty over the economy, and inflation.

Even so, Barrett said that life science continues to be “a shining star” in San Diego’s real estate market. “There’s a ton of unmet needs and we see that on a daily basis,” Barrett said. “In San Diego, you’ve got a lot of migration coming from the Bay Area. That bodes really well for that market to continue to thrive.” ■