The life sciences real estate market is learning a lesson that has hit much of commercial property over the last few years. When capital is abundant and a growth story feels unstoppable, development can move faster than demand.A new Savills report shows just how far that dynamic went in lab space. Nearly 60 million square feet of life sciences space was delivered between 2020 and 2025 across the 11 U.S. markets the firm tracks. Annual deliveries rose from roughly 4.5 million square feet in 2020 to 14.5 million square feet in 2025. Boston-Cambridge and the San Francisco Bay Area alone accounted for 58 percent of that total, underscoring how heavily the sector remains concentrated in its two dominant hubs.
That burst of construction is now colliding with a much softer leasing environment. Savills found that 55.6 percent of newly delivered life sciences space remains unoccupied. In 2025 alone, about 10.7 million square feet of the 14.5 million square feet delivered, or 73.4 percent, was still vacant as of February 2026. The sector is not just slowing down...
RSK: Velocity Station comes to mind. Every time I drive by that huge empty lot between the Beltline and Odana Rd, I wonder if some other project might be better suited.
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- - Volume: 26 - WEEK: 17 Date: 4/21/2026 7:49:54 PM -