This story originally appeared on Bisnow on December 6, 2022.
Trane’s Kasey Boxleitner, MassBio’s Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, Bulfinch Cos.’ Michael Wilcox and Leggat McCall’s Rob Dickey.
Cambridge’s life sciences cluster has historically had little to no lab vacancy, as big players have gobbled up space as soon as it hits the market.
But this year, companies have begun to give back space as the economy cools down, and lab availability in Cambridge has risen dramatically. From Q2 to Q3, Cambridge’s lab vacancy rate rose from 1.4% to 5.2%, the highest level in years, according to Colliers’ latest market reports.
While rising vacancy may be bad for landlords, it is also creating new opportunities for midsized companies that previously had a hard time expanding in the hottest life sciences cluster in the country, experts said last week at Bisnow’s Cambridge State of the Market event, hosted at The Royal Sonesta Boston.
“It’s providing our companies with more optionality, and for so long, they had none,” MassBio President Kendalle Burlin O’Connell said at the event. “If they were lucky enough to get space, it was take it or leave it, and [otherwise], you’ll have nothing.”