Watsonville, California · Now leasing to tenants

A controlled-environment crop R&D campus.

314,209 sq ft of greenhouse across four ranges, subdivided into individually zoned bays, plus 20,148 sq ft of offices and labs — purpose-built space for agtech companies, seed breeders, and research teams to run real trials at real scale.

Inquire about tenancy View facility plan
314,209sq ft greenhouse
20,148sq ft offices & labs
10.3acre campus
AgLab Systems controlled-environment crop R&D campus site plan
Site plan — 255/265 Coward Rd., Watsonville, CA 95076
Why AgLab

Trial space that's ready to work.

Most research programs are bottlenecked by space — waiting on a university greenhouse, squeezing trials into a production house, or building from scratch. This campus already exists, and it's built to be divided, controlled, and shared.

Divisible by design

Four ranges already partitioned into individually numbered greenhouse bays — take a single bay for a pilot or a full range for a multi-season program.

Real environmental control

Independent climate zones plus an automated blackout curtain range for photoperiod work — the repeatability trials require, in a mild coastal climate that lowers energy load.

Between the valleys

Minutes from the Salinas Valley's growers and the USDA's crop research center, and within an easy drive of Silicon Valley's robotics and computer-vision talent.

Research applications

What tenants can run here.

The campus supports a wide range of controlled-environment research programs — from early-stage screening through pre-commercial validation.

Computer-vision phenotyping

Run imaging rigs and vision models against consistent, repeatable canopies with controlled lighting and backgrounds.

Climate-resilient breeding

Impose heat, drought, and stress regimes by zone to select for resilience without waiting on the weather.

Biological & microbial testing

Evaluate biostimulants, biocontrols, and soil microbial products in isolated bays with clean controls and replication.

Disease-resistance screening

Segregated bays support inoculation studies and resistance screening with containment between trials.

Growing-recipe development

Dial in light, temperature, humidity, irrigation, and nutrition curves — then validate the recipe at production scale.

Robotics & automated harvesting

Wide bays, level floors, and repeatable row layouts make a practical proving ground for autonomous platforms.

Sensor & irrigation validation

Benchmark soil, canopy, and climate sensors — and irrigation hardware — against controlled, instrumented baselines.

Seed variety comparisons

Side-by-side variety trials under identical conditions, replicated across bays for clean, defensible comparisons.

High-value crop trait research

Develop medicinal and specialty crops where compound expression and trait consistency depend on tight environmental control.

AI & Crop Intelligence

Every bay, watched by more than the eye.

The campus is built to be instrumented. Cameras, sensors, and machine-learning models turn each greenhouse bay into a stream of objective data — so growth, stress, and yield are measured continuously, not guessed. Tenants can plug into it, or run their own.

Computer-vision monitoring

RGB, depth, multispectral, and thermal cameras — fixed overhead, on rail gantries, or on scouting robots — image every plant on a consistent schedule.

Early disease & pest alerts

Models catch mildew, botrytis, mites, and nutrient stress from subtle color, texture, and thermal cues — often days before the eye can, pinned to the exact bay.

Phenotyping & yield forecasting

Automatic measurement of height, canopy, color, and growth rate for every plant, every day — with rolling harvest and yield forecasts.

Predictive climate (digital twin)

A learning model of each bay anticipates temperature and humidity swings and adjusts proactively — steadier conditions, lower energy load.

AI-ready bays

Pre-wired power, network, mounting rails, and edge compute let a tenant deploy a vision or sensor trial on day one — no infrastructure build required.

Your data, your terms

Tenants own the data their trials generate. Sharing for benchmarking or model training is opt-in and by written agreement — never assumed.

Built to scale in. Start with cameras and sensors in a single range and a live dashboard; expand to multispectral, thermal, and predictive control across the campus — offered to tenants as a managed service tier or run independently in their own bays.
The campus

Four ranges. One address.

Every range is independently accessible and internally subdivided, so tenants can scale from a single trial bay to a dedicated range without moving sites. Shared offices, labs, parking, and service infrastructure sit at the center of the campus.

StructureAreaNotes
Greenhouse A86,332 sq ftIndividually numbered bays
Greenhouse B91,443 sq ftAdjoins offices & labs
Greenhouse C71,360 sq ftAutomated blackout curtain
Greenhouse D65,077 sq ftIndividually numbered bays
Offices & Labs20,148 sq ftReception, offices, break, restrooms
Total campus10.3 acres334,357 sq ft under roof

Infrastructure highlights

  • Automated blackout curtain rangeFull photoperiod control in Greenhouse C for flowering and day-length studies.
  • Individually numbered baysDiscrete compartments enable replication, isolation, and multi-tenant use.
  • On-site offices and labs20,148 sq ft of built space for teams, sample prep, and data work beside the trials.
  • Service yard and support roomsDemonstration yard, equipment areas, electrical, water, and recirculation rooms.
  • Mild coastal climateMonterey Bay conditions reduce heating and cooling loads versus inland CEA sites.
  • Parking and direct road accessTwo parking areas and farm-road frontage on Coward Road for equipment and deliveries.
Facility plan

The site, bay by bay.

Full site plan showing all four greenhouse ranges, the central offices and labs, service areas, and parking. Tenancy can be configured around any combination of bays.

AgLab Systems controlled-environment crop R&D campus — full site plan showing greenhouse ranges A, B, C and D, offices and labs, and parking
Controlled-Environment Crop R&D Campus · 255/265 Coward Rd., Watsonville, CA 95076 · Scale 1" = 60'-0"
Range A86,332 sq ft
Range B91,443 sq ft
Range C71,360 sq ft · blackout
Range D65,077 sq ft
Offices / Labs20,148 sq ft
Location

Where agriculture and technology already meet.

Watsonville sits at the top of the Salinas Valley — one of the most productive vegetable and berry regions in the world — and within commuting distance of the engineering talent building the next generation of agricultural technology.

  • USDA

    USDA crop research, Salinas

    The USDA-ARS Crop Improvement and Protection Research Unit — and its new Sam Farr U.S. Crop Improvement and Protection Research Center, a 117,000+ sq ft facility opened in 2023 — is a short drive south in Salinas.

  • SV

    Silicon Valley proximity

    Roughly an hour from San Jose and the wider Bay Area, putting robotics, computer-vision, and sensor teams within an easy day trip of their field trials.

  • AG

    In the heart of the growing region

    Surrounded by the berry and vegetable operations of the Pajaro and Salinas valleys — commercial growers, cooling, and ag services are all local.

  • UC

    Research and talent nearby

    Close to UC Santa Cruz, Cal State Monterey Bay, and Hartnell College's ag technology programs for research partnerships and staffing.

At a glance

DestinationApprox. distance
Salinas (USDA-ARS)~20 miles
Monterey~30 miles
San Jose / Silicon Valley~35 miles
Santa Cruz~18 miles
Site10.3 acres

Distances are approximate driving distances from 255/265 Coward Rd., Watsonville, CA.

Looking for trial space?

Whether you need a single bay for one season or a full range for a multi-year program, we'll work with you to configure the space, infrastructure, and access your research requires.

Start a conversation
Tenant inquiry

Tell us what your program needs.

Share a few details about your research and we'll come back with available bays, configuration options, and next steps.

What happens next

We review every inquiry personally — no automated sales sequence.

  • We respond within two business days with availability that fits your trial.
  • We walk through bay configuration, environmental controls, and access needs.
  • Site visits welcome — see the ranges and labs before you commit.
  • Confidential inquiries and NDAs accommodated for pre-commercial work.
Prefer email? hello@aglabsystems.com 255/265 Coward Road, Watsonville, CA 95076

We'll only use your details to respond to this inquiry.