Further south, San Diego’s pipeline dropped 37% to 2.71 MSF, which accounts for roughly 21% of the overall market inventory when complete. Here, the market shows a split personality: On one hand, Torrey Pines’ SD Tech building is already 70% pre-leased, indicating steady demand in long-established biotech corridors. On the other hand, projects like the Horton Plaza redevelopment in downtown are testing whether urban lab spaces can gain traction in today’s more cautious environment.

Back on the East Coast, Philadelphia is set to add the fourth-largest amount of new space with 1.57 MSF underway — about 26% of its current inventory and on par with last year’s volume. In particular, projects such as Drexel University’s lab tower and Spark Therapeutics’ gene therapy hub are tailored for mid-sized firms looking for academic partnerships at a more affordable price compared to Boston or San Francisco.

In fifth place, White Plains, N.Y., has 1.08 MSF of life sciences space under construction. That number is dominated by Regeneron’s 900,000-square-foot expansion at its Tarrytown campus, which will comprise 34.2% of the total market stock once complete. The biotech giant (Westchester’s largest private employer) is investing $1.8 billion to grow its R&D and manufacturing facilities, creating more than 1,000 jobs in the process. What’s more, its partnerships with firms like Sanofi and nonprofits such as Protas leverage proximity to Manhattan’s clinical and healthcare networks.

In contrast, Manhattan, N.Y., trails with just 440,000 square feet underway to rank ninth in the pipeline ranks. Constrained by high costs and limited space, this equates to 19.4% of its total market stock upon completion. As a result, developers are pivoting to adaptive reuse, like Iron Horse Labs’ retrofits, while the $1.6 billion SPARC Kips Bay project seeks to fuse academia and industry, pending proof of long-term demand.

In the South, Houston’s active pipeline ranks sixth with 920,000 square feet underway — a 50% inventory surge, which is the fastest growth among top markets. Despite life sciences occupying just 1% of its office space (2.6 MSF), momentum is building: After adding 1 million square feet in 2023 before a lull in 2024, this year’s rebound includes TMC Helix Park’s Dynamic One — a 355,000-square-foot, lab/retail tower — and the MD Anderson Cancer Center expansion. Both projects tap into Houston’s affordable land and energy infrastructure to court biomanufacturing firms.

Meanwhile, in North Carolina, Raleigh-Durham’s pipeline of 647,600 square feet is heavily influenced by Novo Nordisk’s $4 billion expansion, which now represents 9% of the total market stock upon completion. This reflects a bet on the region’s growing academic ties to Duke and UNC to help it emerge as a stronger national competitor.

Rounding out the top 10 is Omaha, Neb., where UNMC is moving beyond traditional campus lab facilities with its new EDGE District — a mixed-use innovation hub contributing to all of the 350,870 square feet of life sciences space currently under construction in the metro area. Located to the west of the UNMC campus, the 180,000-square-foot CORE Building and the 170,000-square-foot Catalyst Building are both underway and designed to support health research.

Boston’s Decade Dominance: 13.4 MSF Added as San Francisco Vaults 115% to #2 Overall

During the last decade, the U.S. life sciences real estate market has transformed: Traditional hubs, like Boston, have expanded their lead even as new markets emerge. Of course, the COVID‑19 pandemic set new construction benchmarks, while increased government funding, venture capital and advances in technology reshaped market clusters nationwide.

Here again, Boston continues to lead the nation’s life sciences real estate market: Throughout the last decade, the region added 13.4 MSF of life sciences space — a 68.3% increase — to reach roughly 33 MSF by 2024. More precisely, nearly 5 million of that new space was delivered in 2024 alone as development spread beyond the traditional hub in Cambridge to include the Seaport and suburban communities, like Waltham. This steady expansion, driven by both post-pandemic demand and long-standing academic investments, has left Boston with twice as much life sciences space as its nearest competitor.

Notably, San Francisco experienced the fastest relative growth during the period. With a 115% jump that added 9.6 MSF, it moved from fourth to second place nationally. A significant boost came during the 2020-2021 biotech IPO wave, which pushed life sciences space up by 23% in a single year. Then, by 2024, the metro’s total inventory had reached 17.9 MSF, although rising vacancies now remind us that rapid growth can come with its own challenges.

Staying in California, San Diego held its own with a 48% expansion — about 4 MSF added — building on its established biotech roots. Here, growth centered on areas like Torrey Pines and downtown projects, such as the RaDD initiative, which contributed to a 17% year-over-year (Y-o-Y) increase in 2024. Conversely, the Bay Area (tracked separately from San Francisco) grew at a more moderate pace, rising 27% to reach 9.6 MSF — a steady climb that kept it in fifth place overall.

At the same time, Seattle also made progress, moving from 10th to ninth nationally with a 68% increase that added 1.96 MSF throughout the decade. Its growth came in waves — particularly in 2019 and again in 2023-2024 — and was fueled by advances in mRNA research and support from initiatives like those backed by the Gates Foundation. As such, by 2024, Seattle’s life sciences space had reached nearly 4.8 MSF.

Other regions found their footing, as well: North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham emerged as a hub for scalable manufacturing by adding 1.8 MSF with 2023 as the standout year with 15% Y-o-Y market growth. Not to be outdone, Philadelphia expanded by 1.54 MSF. As much as 80% of that was added since 2022 as mid-sized cell and gene therapy companies sought more affordable options away from costly coastal markets.

In the Midwest, Chicago’s life sciences space grew by 77% since 2015 to add 1.38 MSF, while St. Louis saw an even more dramatic increase of 185% after adding more than 1 million square feet. Houston rounded out the top 10 by adding 886,300 square feet at a market growth rate of 92%, most of which took place in 2023 as momentum around new projects in TMC came online.

However, not every top market kept pace. Namely, New Jersey (once the nation’s second-largest life sciences hub in 2015) slipped to fourth place by 2024 — a reminder of how this competitive industry has shifted so quickly in the last decade.

Largest Projects Set for 2025: Boston Anchors 6 of 20 Developments, Houston Doubles Down

Recent trends in life sciences development reflect a clear shift toward urban integration and adaptive reuse. Accordingly, in 2025, the largest projects underscore this evolution by combining state‑of‑the‑art lab space with transit connectivity and lifestyle amenities.

By the numbers, Boston again leads the pack with six of the 20 largest projects. Foremost among these is Fenway Center Phase II, a $1 billion development set to deliver 960,000 square feet of life sciences space — an area larger than the entire active life sciences pipelines of Houston; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; and others. Constructed above I‑90, this project reconnects Boston University with the Longwood Medical Area to physically bridge long‑standing neighborhood divides and mark the city’s largest air rights development in decades. Not far behind, in third place, the 10 World Trade project in the Seaport District will add 555,250 square feet of space focused on computational biology labs and incubators, further cementing the Seaport’s reputation as a next‑generation life sciences hub.

San Francisco follows with four major projects, led by Kilroy Oyster Point Phase II, the second-largest overall. Anchoring the metro’s four major projects due for delivery in 2025, Kilroy Oyster Point Phase II is located on a 50‑acre waterfront site and is poised to contribute 865,000 square feet of life sciences space. Building on the rapid uptake of its first phase during the biotech surge, the development now offers flexible leasing options designed to accommodate both startups and established firms.

Down the coast, San Diego also counts four projects among the 20 largest set for delivery this year, and the downtown area continues to be the focal point for the market’s largest life sciences projects. In particular, The Campus at Horton Plaza project is a creative experiment in adaptive reuse that’s converting a former downtown mall into 378,000 square feet of modern lab and office space.

As highlighted in the active pipeline, Philadelphia is making its mark in the sector with two projects ranking in the upper half of the 20 largest. First, the 3201 Cuthbert St. project on Drexel University’s campus will span 520,000 square feet and is set to become the city’s largest life sciences building. Meanwhile, the Morgan Center for Research and Innovation will offer 350,000 square feet as part of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s expansion efforts to accelerate discoveries in children’s health. Here, its innovative design places “wet” labs alongside “dry” labs, thereby facilitating seamless collaboration between experimental work and data analysis.

Similarly, Houston secures its place with its sole project among the nine largest in the top 20: The Dynamic One South Tower, covering 328,000 square feet and located within the 37-acre Helix Park campus, will feature Baylor College of Medicine as its anchor tenant.

Smaller markets are also making moves. For instance, Sacramento, Calif.’s Aggie Square, developed in collaboration with UC Davis, will offer 313,600 square feet that blends lab and engineering spaces into one integrated model. Likewise, Pittsburgh’s Innovation Research Tower (located near Carnegie Mellon) will span 274,000 square feet and incorporate AI and robotics into its design, bolstered by $82 million in NSF funding aimed at fostering interdisciplinary research.

Chicago also continues its recent momentum. In partnership with the University of Chicago, Hyde Park Labs will deliver 302,400 square feet of space designed to support biotech startups with innovative shared environments.

San Diego; New Haven, Conn.; & Boston Lead 2024 Top Completions

However, the biggest projects lined up for delivery this year are on a much larger scale than those completed in 2024. For example, San Diego’s RaDD – The Rise, which delivered 785,000 square feet — the largest project in 2024 — would only rank as the third-largest in the 2025 pipeline. Even so, the average size of the top 20 projects in 2024 hovered around 400,000 square feet — roughly in line with expectations for 2025.

Coming in second for 2024 was 101 College St. in New Haven, Conn. At 525,000 square feet, it holds the title of the largest Northeastern life sciences building outside of Boston. Similar to 2025’s marquee development (Fenway Center in Boston), 101 College St. is integrated into its local urban layout, connecting neighborhoods and institutions.

Speaking of Boston, the city had a particularly strong showing, accounting for 34% of the national total in 2024 with projects like Assembly Innovation Park (498,000 square feet) and 325 Binney St. (462,100 square feet) leading the way. As a matter of fact, the metro area claimed 10 of the top 20 projects, including three of the top five. Half of these were located in the suburbs, from Somerville to further out in Watertown and Lexington. In this case, rising costs may be pushing developers toward more affordable, transit-friendly suburbs while staying close to the metro’s talent base.

Methodology

All data for this project comes from CommercialEdge with building and market stats collected on February 17, 2025. The report focuses on life sciences office buildings that are 25,000 square feet and larger, including mixed-use properties. Rankings for 2025 are based on projected completion dates, although actual opening dates may vary.

Definitions:

• Total square feet: The building’s full size.
• Rentable square feet: The usable lab and office space available for tenants.
• Life sciences total square feet 2025: Total rentable space in completed life sciences buildings as of January 1, 2025.
• Market total square feet 2025: Total rentable space in each market as of January 1, 2025.
• Life sciences percentage from total: How much of the total market inventory is comprised of life sciences space.
• Life sciences under-construction square feet: Total rentable life sciences space under construction as of January 1, 2025.
• Under-construction percentage of life sciences stock: The share of under-construction life sciences space compared to the total life sciences inventory.