As demand for lab space among life sciences companies continues to skyrocket, developers are increasingly looking to a new category of construction to meet that ongoing need.
Enter office-to-lab conversions, which logged the steepest gains in construction last year. Such projects accounted for nearly 10 million square feet of new construction in the top 12 US life sciences markets at the end of last year, according to CBRE, up from 49% at the beginning of 2021. Ground-up lab construction increased 42% in comparison.
Boston led the charge in terms of square footage under conversion as of the first quarter, followed by San Diego, Raleigh-Durham, Los Angeles, and the Washington DC-Baltimore metro.
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