Boulder Associates’ David Oh On Why Colorado's Life Sciences Market Is 'Positioned To Grow Quickly'

Described as one of the nation’s life sciences “hot spots,” the Denver-Boulder area saw record-breaking venture capital investment in 2023, reaching $288M. The region also saw greater investment volume from the National Institutes of Health last year, hitting $518M — nearly 9% higher than 2022. 

Heightened capital investment in the area has also spurred new major developments, including Elements Research Center, a 335K SF spec research campus in Boulder, and another 56K SF spec lab at Flatiron Park pioneered by BioMed Realty.

But like any other market in the U.S., Denver-Boulder life sciences are not immune to market fluctuations. 

“There’s a lot of spec lab space being built in the area,” said David Oh, regional director of science and technology at Boulder Associates. “But at some point, research and development space won’t be enough to stimulate the market. The market will eventually need more testing and manufacturing space. We need to have flexibility in the future so we can adapt the space to whatever we need at the time.”

Oh will be speaking at Bisnow's Denver-Boulder Life Sciences Summit on Aug. 13. Register here.

Bisnow spoke with Oh to learn more about the trends he’s seeing across the industry, what “future-ready facilities” will look like in the Denver-Boulder area and the challenges facing the bustling sector. 

Bisnow: What new trends have you noticed in Denver’s life sciences market this year? 

Oh: Denver has been targeted by a lot of life sciences developers. From working with our regional offices, I know of some developers that are moving, or expanding, their operations to Denver. I started seeing this trend about three years ago. Denver’s life sciences market is growing, and the developer market is still pretty hot there. There are high levels of venture capital and government funding flooding into the area, up almost 10% from 2023. There are also many projects happening compared to other regions across the country, so I believe this market is positioned to grow quickly in coming years. There’s also been a big demographic change in the city in recent years, with many new residents coming to the city from places like California. This has really helped push the market forward. 

Bisnow: At the event, you’ll be speaking about “future-ready research facilities” in the life sciences industry. Can you describe the key characteristics of these facilities, and how they’re poised to further encourage research and innovation in the sector? 

Oh: Developers have been looking at spec laboratory spaces, including R&D focused collaboration spaces, data analysis spaces, and computational spaces including data and sample storages. 

At one point, developers will realize that beyond R&D, there will need to be more space for testing, approval processes, regulatory phasing processes and eventually manufacturing. In turn, they're going to have to start looking at pilot plants, including clean rooms and animal research facilities. I think future space is going to be a little more generic, where the space can be adapted to the future needs of prefab clean rooms or bigger infrastructure coming in rather than just typical spec wet lab and dry lab space.

As architects, we would like to see a bigger space as well as more space for utilities. The ability to support the need for more data storage is contingent on how much power a building can accommodate. Energy is a part of the business that people do not talk about often. How people are storing their energy for future use and or emergency use is so important. Technology development, the need for isolating audio and vibrations and such, is also very critical. More training and educational spaces are also needed in the market. 

Bisnow: What are the challenges facing Denver’s life sciences industry this year? How is the industry equipped to handle these challenges?

Oh: The No. 1 challenge is housing. Housing prices are going up, and I think that is okay for now. Referring back to what's happening in Denver and Boulder, you have researchers that are making higher salaries and are able to afford a house that’s maybe a bit more expensive. As life sciences markets grow, there is a lot of research happening, and there is also the component of manufacturing and production, and the labor pool this draws cannot afford what’s in Denver and Boulder now, similar to what’s happened in San Francisco and San Diego. 

States and the cities across the country are really focusing on how to build more affordable housing. And they're building a lot, especially in the Denver and Boulder area, which is great. In order to build these life sciences buildings, you have to have a labor pool that wants to work and can afford to live there.

Colorado is really lacking in construction labor, as it’s estimated that they have about two million spots for labor and construction to fill, and they're only getting half of that. The cost of living in Colorado is getting expensive, so it's really been this domino effect trying to find that balance for the life sciences market.

Bisnow: What inspired you to speak at Bisnow’s Denver Life Sciences event?

Oh: My goal is to share the information that I have about this market with others. People are flocking to these events to understand what the current market is doing, and I am excited to share my insights on the future, not only for what's happening in Denver and Boulder but from what I’m seeing all across the West. Boulder Associates has multiple offices, so I can get the temperature from other locations and see what's happening in other places. 

This article was produced in collaboration between Boulder Associates and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.