Suburban lab space filling up

So many Cambridge biotech companies have fled to the suburbs in the past year that there's now a shortage of suburban laboratory space available in the Greater Boston area, according to a report from Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, a commercial real estate firm.

In fact, the company said there are only three high-end complexes with more than 5,000 square feet of lab space available.

Since last year, more than a half dozen Cambridge biotechs have moved to the suburbs or unveiled plans to do so. For instance, AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. moved to Lexington a few months ago. Altus Pharmaceuticals Inc. plans to move to Waltham in October. And earlier this year, Shire Human Genetic Therapies said it will build a headquarters and manufacturing plant in Lexington.

Biogen Idec Inc., one of the state's largest biotechnology companies, said last month that it might shift its corporate headquarters from Cambridge to Weston, though the company is only considering moving executives and administrative workers -- not researchers -- and presumably wouldn't need any lab space.

Richards Barry Joyce & Partners found the overall lab market in the Boston area has a vacancy rate of 14 percent with a 12.7 percent vacancy rate in Cambridge and 10.5 percent in the suburbs.

Still, because of the economic recession and credit crunch, developers "remain hesitant" to build additional space on their own in hopes of attracting prospective tenants later, according to the report.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)