Image courtesy of DiMella Shaffer

Cambridge still has the region’s lowest lab vacancies despite the life science industry slump, prompting a leading developer to pursue a project adding nearly 113,000 square feet to the local inventory.

BioMed Realty proposes the office to lab conversion for a 5-story office building at 350 Massachusetts Ave.

The building was completed in 1992. Both the office and retail space are vacant, according to a special permit application submitted to the Cambridge Planning Board.

The project will include a “comprehensive refresh” of the building facade and “right-sized and renovated” retail space facing Massachusetts Avenue, the submission states.

The project will include installation of passive flood barriers and elevation of infrastructure to reflect 2070 storm event projections.

Cambridge’s citywide vacancy rate was 18.1 percent at the end of the first quarter, compared with 25 percent across Greater Boston, brokerage CBRE reported this month. The city captured the largest recent transaction with Biogen’s 580,000 square-foot lease at 75 Broadway, which is being developed by MIT and BioMed Realty.

Cambridge’s office market has a 24.4 percent availability rate, according to CBRE.

The property is ground leased from MIT Investment Management Co. and acquired by BioMed Realty in 2021 as part of a 2.3 million square-foot portfolio transaction.