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downwardspiralstairs t1_j56mjxo wrote

Reply to comment by 3720-To-One in Five-building residential and life-sciences complex with a museum could rise on long vacant parcel on Tremont Street across from police headquarters by rabblebowser

Private equity loves lab space because it rents out at a higher rate than an office space because a person can't do lab work from a home office.

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3720-To-One t1_j56mut2 wrote

Right… but how much lab space is actually needed?

If you can’t find tenants, seems like a money sink.

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ThatFrenchieGuy t1_j56yjcb wrote

An absolute shitload, there's a multiyear wait for more space right now because COVID caused us to make so many huge breakthroughs in biotech that are all moving forward at the same time.

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RoaminRonin13 t1_j5715e9 wrote

As much as private equity will finance.

We’ve had companies leasing and fitting out lab space they don’t have the staff to fill for years. They lease space in a new building based on the investment money they’ve received and their hopeful projection of “maybe someday” growth. Then some amount of their space is either empty or gets sublet to a smaller start-up.

At this point labs aren’t really coming out of the ground without an anchor tenant - things are going on hold or dying outright, as the developers tighten up and wait to see what 2023 brings. There are still tenants looking for space, tho - life science is a thriving industry in Boston, and you can’t do lab work at home.

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