World’s Largest Life Science Campus Launches In Texas

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Texas Medical Center has begun construction on the $1.8 billion first phase of the 37-acre megaproject.

Houston’s place in the U.S. and the world as a major life science cluster takes a big step forward as Texas Medical Center begins construction of the $1.8 billion first phase of a 37-acre, 6 million-square-foot life science campus known as TMC3.

Dubbed the world’s largest life science campus, the TMC3 master plan was designed by Boston-based Elkus Manfredi Architects, a key player in shaping several of the leading life sciences clusters in Massachusetts.

The TMC3 project expands on the more than 60 institutions and 100,000-plus employees already located at Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the world. William McKeon, TMC president & CEO, said in a prepared statement TMC3 extends the medical center’s collaboration to Fortune 100 life sciences companies and entrepreneurial ventures.

Phase One is backed by $1.8 billion in financing from leading life science investment and property development teams. It includes two buildings totaling 950,000 square feet—a 700,000-square-foot research facility and a 250,000-square-foot collaborative building developed by Beacon Capital Partners and their strategic partner Braidwell, a life science-focused investment firm.

The initial phase will also feature a hotel with more than 500 keys and 65,000 square feet of conference space; a 350-unit residential tower; more than 2,000 parking spaces and 18.7 acres of public space. Helix Gardens, part of the landscape design by Mikyoung Kim, will feature a chain of five public parks and a central garden for outdoor receptions, concerts, graduations and other large-scale events.

A Promising Future

Alex Karnal, co-founder & chief investment officer at Braidwell, said in a prepared statement TMC3 will be a model of how to empower an ecosystem of expertise at tremendous scale. In addition to its partnership with Beacon, Braidwell is expected to bring its expertise in making multi-stage life science investments to fuel growth of companies that will be operating on the TMC3 campus.

Noting it’s an unprecedented time for life sciences and innovation in the U.S., Steve Purpura, president of life science at Beacon Capital Partners, said in prepared remarks Houston has all the factors required for explosive growth in the life sciences space. He also credited TMC with seeding innovation, building relationships with the world’s largest life sciences companies and creating the infrastructure needed for long-term success.

TMC3 is expected to generate about $5.4 billion in economic growth for the state each year, including the creation of more than 23,000 new permanent jobs and about 19,000 construction jobs.

Other TMC3 campus collaborators include Majestic Realty, Transwestern Development, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas A&M University Health Science Center and University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Another Houston Project

In February, Hines and 2ML Real Estate Interests released renderings of the 53-acre life science district in Houston known as Levit Green that will be adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. The mixed-use development’s first phase will include a 270,000 square-foot laboratory and office building as the centerpiece. The five-story building will include a 7,000-square-foot conference center; 5,800-square-foot fitness facility; café and restaurant space and an outdoor garden. Levit Green will eventually have more office components as well as residential, retail and hospitality space.

 

Life Sciences Real Estate Sector Poised To Shatter Records Again In 2021

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Unprecedented demand for life sciences real estate has prices soaring in markets across the country.

Pricing for life science and R&D properties averaged $585 per square foot in the first half of this year, up 50 percent over last year’s average, according to a new report from Newmark.

That increase was partially driven by a handful of major deals. In March, prices peaked at $750 per square foot after Blackstone paid $3.45 billion, or more than $1,800 per square foot, for a lab portfolio located in and around Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Unlike other sectors, life sciences generally did not cater to remote work during the pandemic, strengthening demand for lab space. Additionally, increased research efforts, pandemic-related or otherwise, caused companies to expand at a time when many office tenants were consolidating.

There’s additional interest in life sciences moving forward. After a record $33.1 billion of venture capital funding was invested in the sector last year, funding is poised to blow past that figure this year, having already reached $26.7 billion in the first six months of 2021 alone.

In New York City, which already has more than 2 million square feet of life science space, another 3 million square feet has been proposed. In the San Francisco Bay Area, where there is 31 million square feet, another nearly 18 million square feet has been proposed. And in Los Angeles, where there is 11 million square feet, an additional 453,000 has been proposed.

Still, renovations can be difficult given zoning prerequisites and other fitting issues.

 

Source: The Real Deal

Report: Denver’s Medical Office Building Market Picks Up Momentum

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Metro Denver’s medical office building (MOB) market recorded strong fundamentals in the first half of 2021, according to CBRE’s Denver Medical Office MarketView H1 2021 report.

Saint Joseph Medical Office Pavilion, a 99,000-square-foot medical facility completed by Dallas-based Fidelis Healthcare Partners at 1818 Ogden Street in Denver. (PHOTO CREDIT: CBRE)

Positive new absorption of 150,318 square feet was recorded in H1 2021 with On-Campus space contributing to most of the absorption activity. Direct vacancy sat at 10.7% in H1 2021, a modest 28 basis points (bps) increase year-over-year, while overall availability was unchanged at 12.3%.

The average direct asking rate rose to $30.68 per square foot full-service gross (FSG), a 5.4% increase since H1 2020. A total of 174,000 square feet of newly constructed MOB space was delivered to the market in H1 2021 with 70.1% of the space already leased. The Denver MOB investment activity picked up momentum this year totaling $104.9 million in H1 2021, up 101.8% year-over-year.

Outlook

With absorptions rebounding sharply to pre-pandemic levels in the first half of 2021, the Denver medical office market will continue to flourish as owners realign their space needs and discuss future projects.

Though economics is still driving transactions, there has been a flight to quality among tenants that is expected to continue over the next several quarters. The increased demand for healthcare properties is driving strong investor interest as seen by the increased sales activity in H1 2021 which is forecast to be even stronger throughout the balance of 2021 and beyond.

While there has been some impact to the medical office market from the COVID-19 pandemic, the activity during the first half of 2021 showed resiliency and a necessity for healthcare space.

 

Source: Mile High CRE