The Rise of Biotech and Life Science Buildings in the Bay Area

Over the past few years, we have seen a rise in biotech and life science building construction in the Bay Area. These developments have been quite common in San Francisco for a long time, but their development has recently accelerated. In some cases, due to a lack of square footage in more popular cities, we’ve even seen developments down toward San Carlos, Redwood City, and even Belmont. It’s great to see these buildings revitalizing the older industrial areas up and down the 101.

What caused this shift toward life science and biotech construction in the Bay Area?

Prior to the pandemic, there was a greater focus on large-scale office buildings; however, over the past two years we have seen the market shift more toward life science projects. With the onset of the pandemic, the office market came to a halt and developers began to jump into the life sciences market. One aspect of this shift is that life science and biotech businesses require people to be present in the building and labs for research. It’s hard to do medical research from the comfort of your living room. So, since tech isn’t fully back in the office, those spaces aren’t being rushed to be filled. There have also been more investments of capital into the biotech space. There are even incubators popping up within a few blocks of us that are from 5,000 to 20,000 square feet.

Life Science and Biotech construction

We’ve worked on many biotech and life science projects in the past and given the scale of what we build, it’s not a big leap for us. Right now, we have about five life science and biotech projects in pre-construction and one in construction. The main difference between life science buildings and non-life science buildings is the infrastructure, such as the HVAC system, piping difference, greater clear heights, and speciality spaces like clean rooms and labs.

“Our job is to support their vision. Often we have institutional investors who pool money together. They’re leveraging capital. They take on risk. My job is to help them realize that vision and convert the capital into a real asset.”
— Marc Morgan, Project Executive

Semiconductor Client in San Jose

We built out the interior of two different two-story buildings for our semiconductor client. These sleek spaces include training rooms, a fitness center, office spaces, a café, onsite space for food prep, a data center, labs, and class 1000 and 10,000 clean rooms. LEED project. View more of the space.

BioSquare Center

BioSquare is a wonderful, market ready life science space in San Jose that totals ~66k sq. ft., including ~35k sq. ft. of lab ready space. It offers R&D areas, open and private offices, wet and dry lab spaces, and more. BioSquare features a warm and welcoming spacious, industrial warehouse vibe that runs throughout the office, and floor to ceiling windows that let in a ton of natural light. The building incorporates sustainable design features, demonstrating a commitment to the environment. View the space.

Ryan Ranch Breast Care Center

The gorgeous Ryan Ranch Breast Cancer Center in Monterey, CA includes 12,000 sq. ft. of medical offices, reception/lobby areas, conference rooms, and exam rooms. It also includes an enclosed 40-stall parking garage. View more of the space.

1091 Industrial

Currently under construction as of March 2022, 1091 Industrial will be a three-story ~139k sq. ft. core and shell life science building. The project also includes two-levels of subgrade parking and a public plaza which incorporates existing waterways, creating an urban oasis.

See what South Bay Construction is building

We’re building biotech, life science buildings, and so much more! You can check out an overview of our projects to see some of our work. If you’d like to learn more about any of these projects or if you’d like to inquire about one of your own, please contact us at (408) 379-5500.