According to United States Commercial Real Estate Services (CBRE), one of NYC’s budding commercial property sectors – the life sciences market – hasn’t lost even a step during the pandemic era. Even in the face of a broader economic decline, NYC’s lab tenant demand has ramped up significantly since year-end 2019, which has coincided with improvements in nearly all of the lab sector’s fundamentals.
Among the milestones achieved in 2020 were the first leases signed at a pair of NYC’s newest life sciences developments. Protara Therapeutics leased 10,000 sq. ft. at Cure, Deerfield Management’s redevelopment of 345 Park Avenue South into a premier life sciences hub and ecosystem.
Across the East River in Long Island City, ReOpen NY finished an 18,000 sq. ft. lease at Alexandria Real Estate Equities’ redevelopment of the Bindery Building.
This momentum has gone into 2021, as NYC’s lab leasing activity has already hit a record high for a single year, at 257,000 sq. ft. through May 2021. This year’s leasing activity has been augmented by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s 165,000 sq. ft. research-focused lease at 787 Eleventh Avenue and C16 Biosciences’ 19,000 sq. ft. lease at the Hudson Research Center, where the Bill Gates-backed startup will relocate from its incubator space at BioLabs New York.
The influx of venture capital (VC) funds into the NYC life sciences market has been one of the most active indicators in recent years of the city’s expanding profile as a major hub for the sector. After a record-setting 2017, which saw NYC’s life sciences funding balloon to $1.38 billion, VC funding has seen no less than $697 million raised annually, with funding hitting its second-highest total in 2020 at $942 million.
This blistering performance has further intensified in 2021, with NYC’s life sciences VC funding off to its strongest start ever. In Q1 2021, funding gathered its highest quarterly total on record, at $393 million. And with an extra $144 million raised through roughly the first two months of Q2, 2021’s year-to-date total of $537 million is now 60% ahead of the prior high point set last year.
Developments in the US property market would attract prospective buyers and investors in the Commonwealth of Nations. Investing in fast growing sectors of the property market would ensure quick returns.
