Austin
Texas has not been on the list of the top life Science research hubs, but it could be according to an article by Chris Davis of KXAN, a post on the Austincc.edu website.
Central Texas has a need and it is something commercail real estate investors can help with. Central Texas needs for wet lab space for a growing life science industry. One example of the possibilities is the Austin Community College’s (ACC’s), Austin BioScience Incubator (ABI), a State-of-the-Art facility that leases space and equipment to start-up life science companies. The ABI is booming with 16 companies leasing space. Three companies have moved on, outgrown the facility.
Science/Business Incubator
This science business incubator was born out of an approximate 9,500 sf renovation of the iconic Highland Mall in Central Austin, TX. According to its website, the facility features 4,000 sf of wet labs, two ISO I clean rooms, open workspace, conference space, and support offices. Member companies have access to core laboratories and instrumentation.
Mission
The ACC Bioscience Incubator aims to expand on previous successes by establishing a permanent wet lab facility and business incubator to accelerate Central Texas’ biotechnology economy while training a skilled workforce
Austin Community College
The Austin Area Life Science economy was spurred to new growth by the University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School. Austin is now home to more than 240 bioscience companies, according to the Austin Chamber of Commerce, employing 15, 000 workers.
Growing Industry
The life science business is not likely to go anywhere but up in the future. Life science industries involve everything about life including health care for an aging population and DNA research, as well as pharmaceutical research, tissue fabrication, sanitation and food safety, genetics for preventing disease, and nanotechnology for medical devices, computer modeling, and imaging technologies. This industry has been adding jobs since 2000, 5 times faster than the US economy, according to a report by Cushman and Wakefield published in January 2019.
Adaptable Space
This is an interesting type of real estate to look at for an investment. The key factors in investing in commercial real estate to renovate and rent to life science businesses is that the space needs to have both office space and wet lab space. It needs to be efficient and adaptable space for housing imaging technologies, clean rooms, collaboration, and storage, preferably near universities and cultural amenities to attract and retain scientific talent.

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References
Life Sciences: Limited Supply, Increasing Demand Driving Increased Real Estate Costs, 1/31;2019, ww.cushmanwakefield.com/en/news/2019/01/life-sciences-report
Life Science Space Continues to Be in High Demand with Low Vacancies and Rising Rents, National Real Estate Investor, Patricia Kirk, April 22, 2019.
Where scientific breakthroughs happen: Three trends shaping labs of the future JLL , Mike Romer, Chicago, February 15, 2018
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