Sara McTyeire wasn’t looking to leave her role at GlaxoSmithKline, but she knew she wanted to push herself outside of her comfort zone.
At GSK, McTyeire was on the tenant side of things, working as the director of real estate and asset management. It was a role she was familiar with as her entire career to that point was on the tenant side in corporate real estate.
“The deficiencies of what I didn’t know were development and valuations and acquisitions and I felt like I was at a point in my life where I was really ready to make a next big jump in the career and change. But if it hadn’t been for King Street having this specific position open, I probably wouldn’t have made that jump,” McTyeire said.
The transition occurred at the beginning of 2024, marking a new path for McTyeire and a renewed commitment from King Street within the Triangle as she was named the market lead.
What is King Street Properties’ plan for the Triangle over the next year?
We currently have our newest development called Pathway Triangle that has delivered 370,000 square
feet, there’s two large advanced biomanufacturing facilities. But that project will ultimately scale to a million square feet, so six buildings of life sciences advanced manufacturing. We’re constantly evaluating the market, whether it be new acquisitions, new development, land acquisitions so we’re quite committed to the Triangle. We are expecting future growth beyond that.
What in your role at GSK have you been able to bring over to King Street?
Given my experience previously on the tenant side, I’ve been able to help bridge the gap between how we design and develop buildings and what a tenant may ultimately be looking for. Whether that be in deal structure, fit out, actual requirements of a building and life sciences or whether it be R&D, manufacturing, kind of how a large life sciences company will look at making those real estate decisions. It’s a pretty different perspective being in house versus the one developing and delivering to the tenant.
By being based here in the Triangle, my knowledge of the area as what ultimately attracts companies to the Triangle. I’ve been here almost 20 years, so I can also help educate King Street and the team about what is attractive to the area and why certain tenants may be looking to move here, either grow in market or come from out of market and establish new operations in the area.
Closer Look
Title: Executive director and head of NC market, King Street Properties
Age: 40
Family: Husband, daughter and son; labradoodle
Education: University of Georgia, B.S. in business administration
First job: A buyer with a fashion firm in New York in college
What is the biggest challenge facing life sciences real estate right now?
We’ve seen a lot of delayed starts where given the overall market, where interest rates are sitting, a lot of
capital sitting on the sidelines, but we’re starting to see that open up quite a bit. Touring activity is quite strong so seeing much more movement in the second quarter of 2024. That’s what we’ve see over the past three or four quarters is people kind of sitting still for a while, but that momentum seems to be shifting back quite a bit recently.
What have the first six months in this position been like?
It’s been fantastic. I’ve had the good fortune of knowing King Street for many years since I was actually a tenant in their buildings in Boston for about seven years. So, a very easy transition as I’ve had a lot of
long standing relationships with the King Street team out of Boston. We’ve got a lot of exciting work underway. So I’ve been getting up to speed quickly on all things design, development and acquisitions. So it’s been absolutely fast paced, but a phenomenal transition.
What is your go-to coffee order?
Black with one Splenda.
What do you do to relax?
I love to travel, spend a lot of time with my children at their various extracurricular activities, although that’s not very relaxing but it could be if I was less intense and less competitive probably. Love a good glass of wine.
From Kayli Thompson at the Triangle Business Journal