Posts

Life Sciences Space Continues To Be In High Demand, With Low Vacancies And Rising Rents

/in , , /by

Expansion in medical research around DNA is driving growth in the biotech sector and boosting demand for life science space.

Advances in technology over the last decade changed the way medical scientists work, first modeling their theories or ideas on computers before taking them to the bench, according to Steve Purpura, vice chairman of the Boston consulting practice and lead/director of the life sciences practice group with real estate services firm CBRE. As a result, the allocation of lab space in research facilities decreased from a 50:50 office to lab ratio a few years ago to 60:40 today, he notes.

This trend is likely to continue, according to Roger Humphrey, executive managing director and leader of the life sciences group with real estate services firm JLL. Commenting on JLL’s “Journey to the Next Gen Lab,” a report citing a trend toward greater agility in research space design, he noted that wet lab space in research facilities is shrinking, while flex and office space for computational science is growing as scientists spend more time analyzing data. The report shows that flexibility in lab space design and location is required to allow sudden shifts in research priorities and access to talent.

But aggregated demand for highly sophisticated lab space and cutting-edge pharmaceutical production facilities has exploded with expansion of the industry into personalized medicine and increased capital flowing to life science research and development. According to the most recent CBRE life science report, venture capital investments in life science are up 53 percent compared to 10 years ago.

The advent of personalized medicine has spawned a subset of life science industry incubators and early-stage companies focused on developing and manufacturing “small batch” pharmaceuticals, adding pressure to the demand for lab space within or nearby life science clusters, according to Frank Petz, managing director of JLL’s Boston-based capital markets group.

As a result, core life science markets—Boston-Cambridge, San Francisco, San Diego, the Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle and Seattle—are enjoying construction booms and growth in rents, which have escalated more than 50 percent over the last three years, according to the CBRE report.

The boom in funding has also increased competition and furthered the talent war between life science companies.

“The cost of rent is low on the list of their concerns,” says Petz. “It’s all about talent.”

Therefore, locations with premiere research universities and teaching hospitals outside core life science markets are also seeing construction of new research facilities, as life science firms seek STEM talent to fill the growing number of job vacancies.

According to the CBRE report, life science employment soared 23.5 percent to nearly 1.7 million workers between 2001 and 2016, compared to 10.2 percent for overall U.S. employment. Additionally, the rapid pace of technological advancement in the life science sector generated a 26 percent surge in biotech jobs between 2013 and 2016.

Urban markets with premiere universities and teaching hospitals, such as Philadelphia and New York City, have growing life science clusters because they offer the largest STEM talent pools, according to Purpura. While developers are replacing obsolete buildings in these markets with 10-story research facilities, office and industrial buildings in suburban markets, specifically San Diego and Raleigh-Durham, are being converted to lab space.

Humphrey also stresses the need to build flexibility into research space, so scientists can easily reconfigure workspaces to accommodate different types of research and facilitate collaboration with colleagues.

Mobile benches and unassigned workspaces, for example, allow for fast changes in personnel and type of work performed, he notes. In addition, hanging retractable electrical cords from the ceiling, so users aren’t limited to placing equipment against walls, and hiding technical infrastructure behind facades can allow easy movement of people and equipment.

 

Source: NREI

Dallas Area Poised As A Growing Hub For Life Sciences Industry

/in , , /by

Dallas-Fort Worth is among the life sciences hubs in the nation that are positioned for major growth, according to a new report from real estate services and investment firm CBRE.

According to the report, DFW is one of the emerging hotspots for the life sciences industry and has benefited from the sector’s momentum across the nation.

CBRE said that a number of indicators suggest robust expansion for the industry. For starters, venture-capital funding for U.S. life sciences companies saw an 86 percent increase for the year, ending in September, to the tune of $15.8 billion. And, life sciences lab space under construction in the sector’s five largest U.S. markets expanded to 6 million square feet last year, a 101 percent increase.

In its report, CBRE said it focused on the human life sciences industry, which consists of manufacturing, testing and research-and-development work in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. The top established life sciences hubs were analyzed and ranked according to four main criteria for each market: the number of scientists in key industry categories, the industry funding for local life sciences companies, size and long-term growth of the life sciences workforce, and inventory of industry lab space.

Between 2014-2017, Dallas-Fort Worth was the seventh fastest growing life sciences market in the nation. With two biological science higher education programs ranked in the top 100, according to U.S. News & World Report, Dallas-Fort Worth is now ranked 11th for producing new life sciences talent.

There are also three hospitals in North Texas that are ranked in the top 100, the report said, that bolsters the relationship between medical research institutions and life sciences innovation.

“The DFW area is an attractive market for companies in the life sciences industry,” CBRE Vice Chairman Jeff Ellerman said in a statement. “There is an enormous amount of high-tech talent in the area, which helps support the cross pollination between tech and life sciences.”

That makes North Texas attractive for companies.

“When you combine the growing market with available talent, it becomes a no-brainer for large companies in the pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors to choose North Texas for their headquarters,” Ellerman said.

 

Source: Dallas Innovates

Dallas-Fort Worth Tops The Nation In Medical Office Building Development

/in , , /by

Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) had the nation’s highest rate of medical office building (MOB) completions from Q3 2017 to Q2 2018, according to a new report from CBRE.

MOB construction deliveries totaled 954K SF during that period, with another 95K SF of medical space still under construction as of the last half of 2018.mob

“Even development that robust doesn’t add up to overbuilding, at least not yet,” according to CBRE Senior Vice President, Global Workplace Solutions Jordan Buis. “Although we’ve seen growth in DFW healthcare developments over the past decade, I believe the market is stable. We’ve seen healthy demand from tenants to keep up with the new supply, and developers aren’t overbuilding. The population boom in DFW is driving the need for new medical product, especially in the suburbs.”

The recent volume of deliveries continues a longer-term pattern of growth for the Metroplex, the report said. From Q1 2010 to Q2 2018, DFW delivered more than 2.7M SF of new medical office space, second only to the Houston market, which delivered in excess of 3.5M SF of MOB space in the same period.  Medical office rents in the Metroplex increased 2.1% from Q2 2017 to Q2 2018 to $27.43/SF, even as the vacancy rate rose 180 basis points to 23.3% over the same period.

“As rents continue to rise and reimbursements continue to decline for the healthcare providers, it will be interesting to see if there’s a point of inflection in the near future,” Buis said.

The surge of MOB development in the Metroplex comes as health systems nationally are increasingly turning to outpatient centers due to higher capital costs and a surge in high-deductible health plans requiring patients to pay larger out-of-pocket amounts.

The total number of outpatient centers nationwide grew more than 50% from 2005 to 2016 to about 41,000 properties, according to CBRE. Outpatient center employment has more than doubled since 2003, and grew 3.5% year over year in October 2018, compared with 2% annual growth in overall healthcare employment.

Medical City Frisco Expansion (PHOTO CREDIT: Medical City Frisco)

In DFW, the most recent example of outpatient development — though close to a traditional hospital — just broke ground at Medical City Frisco.   The facility will be a medical office building with an ambulatory surgery center totaling about 150K SF and connected to Medical City‘s main hospital by a skybridge. The development will include 11 operating rooms, 53 patient rooms and office space. The $37M project is expected to be complete by spring 2020,”

“The development is anticipating future demand for leading-edge medical treatment,” Medical City CEO Charles Gressle said in a statement.

Last year, the hospital expanded its women’s services unit, which includes 13 delivery and recovery rooms, and features a six-bed, Level II neonatal intensive care unit with three dedicated cesarean section operating rooms.

 

Source: Bisnow