An annual state-of-the-industry report by Massachusetts’ main biotech trade group is full of unwelcome news to developers, investors and lenders exposed to the state’s life science real estate market.
A failed Medford lab development provides a stark example of how Massachusetts’ rapidly retreating life sciences market left some developers and lenders high and dry.
Lab leasing in Greater Boston declined to the lowest level since the pandemic as life science companies shied away from real estate commitments in a frugal funding climate.
Moves by the California-based Alexandria Real Estate Equities to dump a significant slice of its Boston-area life science real estate portfolio speak volumes about the state of the local lab market, none of it good.
The Boston metro has been a leader in life science research for decades, and while its upward trajectory continued so far this year, a few headwinds are mounting.
Neither Boston nor San Francisco are likely to cede their top spots in the life science ecosystem to challengers with lower costs and more affordable development sites, even as the sector enters a contraction phase.
Life science landlords continue to enjoy the upper hand in Greater Boston as the vacancy rate for the nearly 35 million-square-foot lab market remains below 3 percent, according to Colliers International research.
Greater Boston’s life science cluster remains an island of stability in the commercial real estate world while other property sectors reel from COVID-19 disruption.
