Boston Scientific’s neuromodulation division headquartered in Valencia is moving, but only down the road, according to the medical technology company’s director of communications.
The new space — the former Santa Clarita Valley home of the Scorpion marketing firm — represents a downsize from the Santa Clarita biomedical park for the international medical technology firm, based on previous reports.
“We’re just moving down the road,” said Jeff Trauring, director of communications for Boston Scientific, confirming the new lease at 27750 Entertainment Drive, in Valencia.
Trauring said the former Scorpion space “just better suits our needs,” adding that the company has signed a 10-year lease and plans to make the roughly 3-mile move to be done in phases, starting later this year.
In 2017, Boston Scientific announced that it signed a 10-year lease for 342,000 square feet of space in the Southern California Innovation Park, which for years was known as Mann Biomedical Park, on Rye Canyon Loop. The business park is home to Boston Scientific’s Neuromodulation Group, which focuses on microelectronic implantable technology for chronic pain or neurological diseases.
The report noted two buildings in the 10-year lease the company announced in 2017: a 180,000-square-foot office and engineering facility originally built for Advanced Bionics, and a 161,000-square-foot office, training and warehouse facility.
Then in 2021, Boston Scientific’s current landlord, Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services firm, announced the purchase of Boston Scientific’s “Valencia headquarters,” which it described as a 180,415-square-foot life science complex at Rye Canyon Loop. There was no indication the 161,000-square-foot facility was part of the transaction.
The former Scorpion headquarters on Entertainment Drive is a 100,000-square-foot, four-story office building built for the internet marketing firm in 2017.
Scorpion grew its force from 400 to approximately 600 employees over the next four years, before announcing in 2021 that it was “still very committed to the Santa Clarita area” but planning to move its headquarters to Salt Lake City.
The company now has fewer than 100 employees in the area, based on the SCV Economic Development Corp.’s most recent list of top employers.
The SCV EDC, a public-private partnership that helps draw new businesses and retain ones that are here, said it was aware of the situation. A spokesman for the agency said the organization couldn’t comment on anything that might be pending at this time.
“While the SCVEDC cannot comment on ongoing confidential projects, we continue to work closely with Boston Scientific’s team, alongside our partners at the city of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County,” according to an email Thursday from Scott Heffernan, sent on behalf of SCV EDC CEO Ondre Seltzer.
Tom Cole, the city’s director of economic development, did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Boston Scientific’s share price has more than doubled over the past four years, with shares going for $46.27 in 2022 and the market closing at $98.38 on Thursday.
The company indicated it planned to sublease the space in August based on news reports from the time, and then again in a notice sent to Cantor Fitzgerald investors in early December, according to a source who asked to remain anonymous.
Trauring did not have any information available on who would take the space, but based on previous reports, the phased move starting in “late 2026” could take most of the remaining 10-year lease, which was signed in 2017.
An email to Boston Scientific’s landlord, Cantor Fitzgerald, was not immediately returned.
Boston Scientific is estimated to have more than 640 employees at the most recent count available from the SCV EDC, which also tracks local job numbers.