With state and city government support, New York City developers are building laboratories for medical research and incubator spaces for biotech start-ups , according to The New York Times.
The coronavirus pandemic, which has focused greater attention on health care and spurred a heated race for a Covid-19 vaccine, has also ratcheted up interest in life science real estate in New York.
The city had already been trying to play catch-up with other life science powerhouses such as Boston, San Diego and San Francisco. Real estate companies, with government support, had been building commercial laboratories for medical researchers, incubator spaces for biotech start-ups and offices for pharmaceutical companies poised to bring new drugs to market.
Now, funding from investors is flowing to such projects at a time when the city’s office market is battered by lockdowns and orders to work from home. Office availability in Manhattan jumped to 14.1 percent in the third quarter from 11.8 percent in the same period a year ago, while the average rent dropped about 1 percent, according to Newmark, a commercial real estate advisory firm.
Developers are jumping on the life science bandwagon, which has emerged as a bright spot in an uncertain picture for commercial real estate. Rent for labs in Manhattan averages around $105 a square foot, according to a report from CBRE, a real estate services company.
Experts are warning that it may be too soon to celebrate a turnaround, but developers are charging ahead.
Read more from The New York Times.
