Updated
Updated · CNBC · Apr 22Biotech Recovery Leaves Lab Landlords Grappling with High Vacancies and Falling Rents
5 articles · Updated · CNBC · Apr 22
- Life sciences real estate faces record-high vacancy rates, with over 30% in major markets like Boston and the Bay Area.
- Despite biotech funding and hiring rebounding, landlords struggle as new lab spaces sit empty and rents continue to fall.
- Many landlords are repurposing lab properties for tech, AI, or manufacturing, reflecting shifts in industry demand and research methods.
Why are investors funding biotech while the industry's own buildings sit empty? Will the shift to automated 'labs of the future' make this real estate crisis permanent? Can empty biotech labs be repurposed for the AI and defense tech industries? With lab vacancies at record highs, who will win the real estate negotiation war? With research grants at a 30-year low, where will new scientists find funding? How will the historic NIH funding crisis reshape American scientific innovation?