Record Amount Of Life Sciences Space To Be Delivered This Year Amid Industry Slowdown

Life sciences development is expected to hit a new record in 2024, a year after the biotech sector, by some measures, experienced its sharpest downturn this century.

This year, 21.3M SF of life sciences-dedicated real estate is set to be delivered in the 13 largest markets in the country, according to new data from CBRE 2024. That figure is up from 13.9M SF in 2023 and 5.6M SF in 2022.

Of the new space coming onto the market this year, 79% of it will deliver in the Boston, San Francisco and San Diego markets, which have already seen dramatic slowdowns in demand and high vacancy rates due to the amount of space already online.

The new spaces under construction are projected to cause a sharp increase in vacancy in these three top markets, which already saw a combined 10.1% vacancy increase in the third quarter of 2023. Greater Boston alone saw its vacancy rate rise from 9.9% at the beginning of the year to 21.2% by the end, according to JLL.

With a record amount of space hitting the market, the number of vacant labs around the country is expected to rise further in 2024. 

“The underlying science still is strong following a decade of rising investment, as shown by recently robust levels of drug approvals and early-stage clinical trials,” CBRE Americas Life Sciences Leader Matt Gardner said in a statement. “Construction completions will peak this year and then drop off substantially, benefiting the life sciences real estate market.”

Last year, the life sciences market slowed dramatically due to venture capital funding drying up, employment slowing and a softening economy. Companies that had grown rapidly in the early days of the pandemic, when interest rates were near zero, suddenly felt a cash crunch.

Many instituted layoffs, put space on the sublease market or terminated their leases. Dozens folded altogether.

The market does have some bright spots, according to CBRE, notably the Food and Drug Administration's approval of several drugs last year, including Vertex's CRISPR treatment for sickle cell anemia, which was greenlit Dec. 8. Spending on publicly traded companies for research and development has increased in the last decade to almost $180B last year.