Ground broke on Wednesday at a new 197,000 square foot life sciences building under construction in Seattle at the foot of the Space Needle.
The building, at the site of a former McDonald’s in the city’s South Lake Union neighborhood, is slated for completion in early 2024. The space will help ease the high demand for lab space in a sector that has boomed over the last few years.
The number of life sciences researchers in the Seattle area grew 24% from 2015 to 2020, and venture capital funding reached all-time highs in 2020 and 2021 in the city and nationally.
Twenty-five life sciences companies in Seattle are looking for a home and lab vacancy rates are at 6.6%, according to real estate firm CBRE. Nationally, lab vacancy rates are at an all-time low.
CBRE is serving as a leasing advisor for the new project, a joint venture between Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation and LPC West, which owns and operates more than 5.5 million square feet of life sciences facilities on the West Coast. LPC West is also reconfiguring an existing building in Seattle’s Eastlake neighborhood for life sciences use.
The new building is designed for research with dedicated emergency power, side-loaded floors to support heavy equipment, and outside air exchange. The blueprint calls for a 10,000 square-foot outdoor view deck, with a coffee shop and evening bar in the initial plans. CBRE is in discussion with potential tenants, according to a spokesperson.
