Lab space in suburbs gobbled up in last year

By Todd Wallack, Globe Staff  |  November 21, 2008

So many Cambridge biotech companies have fled to the suburbs in the past year that there is now a shortage of suburban laboratory space in Greater Boston, 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 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, according to the report.

Todd Wallack can be reached at twallack@globe.com.