New York to Challenge Major Life Science Hubs

Commercial Observer reported yesterday that New York is fast becoming a “viable alternative” to lab hubs in San Diego, San Francisco and Cambridge, Massachusetts. However, the city still has one key issue to overcome: lack of facilities.

As quoted in the market news:

‘New York’s got the science, it’s got the money; now it just needs the facilities,’ John Isaacs, an executive vice president at CBRE, told Commercial Observer.

New York’s 1.7 million square feet of life sciences space pales in comparison to the Boston/Cambridge region, which boasts some 20 million square feet of biotech space.

But the tide is turning. Already, the Alexandria Center for Life Science, a facility located on East 29th Street at the East River Science Park, has added over 700,000 square feet of lab space to the city and there is more on the way.

The EDC is helping too, and not just with funding. The city, in cooperation with the Department of Health, issued a request for proposals in December to developers for the redevelopment of 455 First Avenue. A redevelopment of that property would see the Department of Health, the building’s largest tenant, consolidate its space, freeing up five floors for new lab tenants.

Click here to read the full Commercial Observer report.