John McCloud is editor of Industry Property Journal, from which this article is excerpted.

Tarrytown, NY—BioMed Realty Trust Inc's. decision to launch a $145-million expansion at the Landmark at Eastview in this community 20 miles north of New York City is another example of the speed with which the life science industry is growing. The near-simultaneous announcement of a $507-million joint venture between the San Diego-based REIT and Boston-based Prudential Real Estate Investors shows that the more established investment community is also beginning to give serious attention to the fledgling industry.

At the Landmark at Eastview, the largest privately owned multi-tenant technology park in New York State, BioMed broke ground on a 360,000-sf laboratory and office complex that will become the corporate headquarters and major research facility for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company already based at the 275-acre complex. Regeneron, which had $63.5 million in sales in 2006, signed a 15-year lease for 194,000 sf in the new building. It will give up some existing office space at the development, but retain a 27,000-sf specialized research facility.

The project is only one of a long list of biotech and pharmaceutical facilities now in development nationwide. According to Industrial Info Resources of Sugar Land, TX, 135 capital and maintenance projects valued at $4.3 billion were set to begin construction between April and June of this year, a 5% increase from Q2 '06 and nearly 80% greater than the $2.4 billion of projects that were scheduled to start in Q1 this year.