BRONX, NY (March 2022) — A building boom for new life-sciences laboratories will benefit medical real estate developers that control shovel-ready properties, said Joseph Simone of Simone Development Companies.
According to recent figures from CBRE, a record 31 million square feet of life-science space was under development in the fourth quarter of 2021, both new construction and conversions. “Because of the costs associated with the essential lab infrastructure, real estate developers with vacant land near innovation corridors will benefit from cost savings and delivery-to-market advantages,” said Joe Simone.
Life sciences lab and innovation users typically require high-capacity power, high-velocity ducts, acid waste neutralization and tenant emergency power capacity—all costly retrofits for existing buildings.
In the first two months of 2022, CBRE reported that several life sciences mega-projects have been announced, including a 3 million square foot endeavor at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
Joe Simone noted that over the past 25 years since the U.S. Navy closed Philadelphia’s Navy Yard, private investors have transformed a massive, outdated tract of land into a thriving community with more than 150 companies. “The key to this success was 1,200 acres of vacant or demolition-ready land near a major urban center,” said Joe Simone.
As with the ongoing Navy Yard transformation, Simone Development Companies successfully reinvented parts of the former Bronx Psychiatric Hospital into the Hutchinson Metro Center. Strategically located near the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and other life sciences hubs in Harlem and Long Island City, Simone Development Companies is proposing to build wet labs and for medical research on the southern portion of the property.
“The demand for new lab space shows no sign of receding,” said Patricia Simone, Principal and President of Simone Management Group. “Simone Development Companies is ready to build the facilities needed for the new generation of biotech start-ups.”