A Stockdale Capital Partners project in downtown San Diego is now in the hands of its lender, AllianceBernstein.

Stockdale owed $384.3M, including fees and interest, to AllianceBernstein, according to a trustee's deed upon sale, recorded on Aug. 26 in San Diego County and reviewed by Bisnow.

The property went to the lender after an auction failed to produce other interested bidders. AllianceBernstein made a $130M credit bid to secure the property, the deed shows.

It is unclear what comes next for the property. Neither Stockdale nor AllianceBernstein responded to requests for comment from Bisnow.

In March, the lender recorded a notice of default in San Diego County. In May, an auction date was set for that same month, but the notice of sale wasn't recorded with San Diego County until late last month.

Stockdale wanted to turn the former Horton Plaza mall into a mixed-use project with office space for life sciences and tech tenants.

Plans were for 700K SF of office, along with 300K SF of restaurants, retail and entertainment uses. Stockdale had spent around $500M on the project, including the $175M spent to buy the mall, when it spoke to Bisnow in 2021.

AllianceBernstein won another foreclosure auction earlier in August, taking over an office property in Washington, D.C., for $20.1M. AB had bid nearly $60M for the same property three months prior, also in a foreclosure auction.

Nationwide, life sciences has grappled with a less-than-robust leasing market. Asking rents have declined and vacancy has reached record highs, according to a midyear report from Cushman & Wakefield.

Although Alexandria Real Estate Equities in July signed Novartis to a nearly 500K SF lease in San Diego, the market's life sciences space is 26.3% vacant, the Cushman report says.