Available lab space increased in Q3, according to report.
Thomas Grillo
Real Estate Editor- Boston Business Journal
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The amount of available space in Greater Boston’s biotechnology lab market increased slightly at the close of the third quarter, in part, due to the consolidation of space by pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
A new report by Transwestern/RBJ found 550,000 square feet of negative absorption in two quarters that ended Sept. 30, bringing Greater Boston’s 17.1 million-square-foot lab market’s availability rate to 13.8 percent — up from 13.6 percent for the same period one years ago, according to a report by Transwestern | RBJ.
While the Bay State remains a leader in the biotechnology industry, California’s RD workforce has grown twice as fast over the last five years, and the competition remains fierce with other regions eager to win biotechnology firms and target workforce, the report found. While most firms remain in growth mode, consolidations by Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Merck and Vertex could impact the market and introduce large amounts of state-of-the-art modern laboratory space to the sublease market.
In Cambridge, the availability rate swelled to 17.5 percent in the third quarter, up from 17.3 percent a year ago. Two large companies totaling 911,000 square feet of consolidation resulted in 567,000 square feet of negative absorption in Cambridge for the two-quarter period ended Sept. 30. A majority, or 554,000 square feet of this space, was related to the move of Vertex to the Seaport District, expected to commence by year-end. Pfizer was the other major driver, announcing it will vacate a four-building campus once home to Genetics Institute in West Cambridge in a move to a consolidated to a campus at 610 and 700 Main St.
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