Gilead continues development plans in Foster City

The firm is hoping to demolish a current single-story building on the property to make room for a new five-story, 181,000 square-foot development at 335 Lakeside Drive. The building will be mostly used for laboratory space — with 30% allotted for regular office use — and is meant to support the company’s investment in biologics research, said Josh Hunter, associate director of Project Management at Gilead.

“This facility is intended to expand our research capabilities and support our biologics strategies as we continue to develop therapeutics for patients across the globe. We are expecting completion of this project in summer 2027 so it is quite quick,” Hunter said during a Planning Commission meeting June 17.

While the building, known as the New Technical Development Center, is still in the early stages, the firm also has another development nearby that has already received city approvals and is set to begin construction.

The campus has a north and south section, and in total, has about 2.5 million square feet allotted for office or R&D uses. Once the Lakeside Drive building is complete, only about 440,000 remaining square feet will remain for development.

Gilead also went before the City Council June 16, to further discuss its plans for the Chess Hatch property, which it purchased about a decade ago and has yet to substantially redevelop. According to the most recent plans, the company plans to build out the site in two phases. During the first phase, eight of the 12 existing buildings would be demolished, with construction completed on a two-story, 200,000-square-foot building and construction starting next year. The second phase would include the demolition of the remaining buildings and the construction of one 600,000-square-foot R&D building.

A little more than $20 million in developer impact fees would be paid to the city for the Chess Hatch development, according to a staff report, with the vast majority going toward affordable housing funds. Most councilmembers voiced support for the project, though Mayor Stacy Jimenez said she hoped the company would keep the project moving along as quickly as possible.

“I would like to see this project move forward with all expediency, not just phase one but also phase two,” Jimenez said to Gilead staff during the council meeting. “I would like to just encourage you to move forward, and if this parcel is not something that you think you can utilize in the future, then let’s make those decisions now.”