A flood of venture capital is turbocharging a building boom for new life-sciences lab space as biotech and pharma players race to develop new life-saving treatments using the genomics breakthrough that produced the leading Covid-19 vaccines.

A record 31 million SF of life-science space was under development during the fourth quarter of 2021, nearly doubling the 19 million SF reported during the first quarter of last year, according to CBRE. The Q4 total includes new construction and conversions of offices into lab space.

During the first two months of the new year there has been a steady drumbeat of new mega-projects to develop lab space, including this week's announcement that Ensemble/Mosaic and Oxford Properties Group are joining forces in a $1.5-billion deal to develop up to 3 million SF of life science properties at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia.