War for property, war for talent

When Brockton Everlast struck a deal to buy a collection of assets at Cambridge Science Park in February from Legal & General Investment Management it highlighted the increasing interest for life sciences real estate in the sector.

This is backed up by the fact 82% of real estate professionals in this year’s research rank healthcare and life sciences as appealing asset class, third only marginally behind distribution/logistics (85%) and retirement living (83%).

Developers and owners have been taking a crash course in wet labs and dry labs as reality dawns that the global healthcare crisis will lead to a huge rise in demand for life sciences real estate, with all the attendant complexities needed to supply this sector.

What is also striking is that life sciences professionals now favour city centre locations. For research & development, however, technology hubs are most favoured.

The war for talent, proximity to transport links, top class universities and access to non-UK staff are all factors in this finding, explaining why London’s real estate sector is becoming increasingly excited about the development of a Knowledge Quarter along Euston Road.

British Land is one major owner who has spotted the potential, with chief executive Simon Carter using a May results presentation to say it is excited about the idea of repurposing its Regents Place office campus at Euston for healthcare and life sciences use.

How do you expect the demand for physical space to change in your organisation over the next two years? (Life sciences professionals)