The U.S. life sciences industry and the real estate that it occupies have ridden a wave of momentum into this year that has positioned various industry hubs – including New Jersey – for continued growth, according to a new report from CBRE.
Numerous indicators point to robust expansion for the life sciences industry, including the 86 percent increase in venture-capital funding for U.S. life sciences companies to $15.8 billion for the year ended in September from the previous year. Additionally, life sciences lab space under construction in the industry’s five largest U.S. markets expanded by 101 percent last year to 6.0 million sq. ft.
That momentum has several markets ascendant on CBRE’s ranking of the top established and emerging life sciences hubs.New Jersey, for example, ranks fourth among top life sciences clusters in the U.S. due to the significant size of its 18.2 million sq. ft. lab inventory and its deep talent pool (No. 2 of all markets for key life scientists). New Jersey’s life sciences industry has revived its growth over the past several years, with life sciences employment growth of 3.7 percent exceeding the national average of 2.9 percent between 2014 and 2017.
“Increased demand for lab space in New Jersey is being driven by companies involved in gene therapy, cell therapy, oncology, clinical trials and manufacturing,” said Tom Sullivan, Senior Vice President in CBRE’s Central New Jersey office. “With diminishing supply, vacancy has dropped significantly over the past year. Continued strong demand likely will result in a tighter market for lab space in 2019.”
CBRE’s report focuses on the human life-sciences industry, which encompasses manufacturing, testing and research-and-development work in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
CBRE analyzed and ranked the top established life sciences hubs by weighing four main criteria for each market: number of scientists in key industry categories, industry funding for local life sciences companies, size and long-term growth of their life sciences workforce, and their inventory of industry lab space.
Top 10 Established Life Sciences Markets
| 1.)Boston-Cambridge | 6.) Washington, D.C.-Baltimore |
| 2.)San Francisco Bay Area | 7.) New York City |
| 3.)San Diego | 8.) Philadelphia |
| 4.)New Jersey | 9.) Los Angeles |
| 5.)Raleigh-Durham | 10.) Chicago |
About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2018 revenue). The company has more than 90,000 employees (excluding affiliates) and serves real estate investors and occupiers through more than 480 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers a broad range of integrated services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
