| 
290 Binney St./Image courtesy of Pickard Chilton
Life science landlords continue to enjoy the upper hand in Greater Boston as the vacancy rate for the nearly 35 million-square-foot lab market remains below 3 percent, according to Colliers International research.
Astrazeneca’s 570,000-square-foot lease at Boston Properties’ Blue Garage property redevelopment in Kendall Square was the latest major pharma firm to commit to expansion in East Cambridge, although the project is still in permitting. Cambridge’s availability rate ranges from 0 percent in Alewife to 0.9 percent in Kendall Square, according to the report.
Boston’s 2.4 million-square-foot Seaport District submarket is another in-demand destination for pharma firms’ expansion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals is expanding its footprint to 1.9 million square feet in the neighborhood after committing to a planned development by Related Beal on Drydock Avenue. The Lilly Institute for Genetic Medicine will occupy the 15 Necco St. project being developed by National Development and Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
Colliers is tracing more than 30 million square feet of under construction or proposed life science space in Greater Boston, nearly doubling the region’s current inventory. Not all of the projects will secure tenants or financing, and developers may delay projects if a supply glut materializes, Colliers researchers Jeff Myers and Kelly Doonan wrote in the research report.
