WASHINGTON, DC—Suburban Maryland hasn't fared well in office fundamentals in recent months. One area, though, that is positioned to preform well is the life sciences space, according to JLL. Of course, this subspace of the office asset class has always done well, but JLL is predicting it will see vacancy rates drop to below 3% by the end of this year.

Why and how? Two reasons reasons. One, the market has nearly 500,000 square feet of pent up demand, according to Pete Briskman, managing director in JLL's Mid-Atlantic region.

And two, despite the strong demand it is highly unlikely developers will take a flyer on a spec building. Instead they will focus on more mature markets such as Massachusetts, the Research Triangle and San Diego, which have historically provided higher returns, Briskman says. "Pre-leased buildings will drive future development locally," he said.

The end result will be two-fold. Tenants can expect to see fewer concessions and rising rental rates, according to Briskman. Also, landlords -- especially the REIT landlords -- will be exceedingly picky about their tenants as they eye securitizations with these assets backing such loans.

So far the market has been quiet except for one deal, which JLL says augurs the aforementioned series of events. Last month BioMed Realty Trust signed MacroGenics to a full-building headquarters lease at its 122,600-square-foot asset at 9704 Medical Center Dr. in Rockville. It is a relocation for the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company from 9640 Medical Center Drive.

This could be the first of several significant lease deals in the market, according to JLL.

Instant Insights /

JLL: MacroGenics's Full-Building Lease with BioMed Augurs More Deals

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