As the race to create a coronavirus vaccine intensifies, the life sciences industry has boomed. Seattle is a hub for this growth, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE.
Seattle ranks No. 9 in a report of the largest life sciences markets in the United States. The report measures the life sciences job market, lab-space availability and funding from venture capital firms and the National Institutes of Health.
In the second quarter of 2020, the city’s life sciences industry received $613.5 million in venture capital funding.
Lab vacancies dropped to 2.2% in Seattle, the second-lowest vacancy rate for labs in the country. Life science companies occupy a total of 8.5 million square feet of real estate in the city, up 26.9% the past 18 months.
The market for “lab-capable development” is predicted to grow by 2.4 million square feet over the next four years, according to CBRE.
“Life sciences has been one of Seattle’s fastest-growing industries in recent years, and the unfortunate arrival of Covbid-19 has brought even more attention to the sector,” says Marcus Yamamoto, first vice president with CBRE’s Seattle-based health care and life sciences team. “Seattle’s unique convergence of world-class scientific research and premier technology talent has made it a leader for innovation in the industry.”
Boston-Cambridge, the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego landed the top three spots in the report, respectively.
