PHOENIX — The Phoenix metro topped the nation for growth in life sciences employment between 2019 and 2020, according to a new CBRE Group Inc. study, and that employment growth has fueled a need for specialized real estate space that can accommodate lab and research uses.
Metro Phoenix’s life sciences employment grew 8.5%, between 2019 and 2020, the highest total job growth of all markets studied, according to the study. The metro ended the year with about 22,000 life sciences jobs.
David Barrett, first vice president for CBRE who specializes in tenant representation, said he has had seen an uptick in inquiries from life sciences-oriented companies looking at Phoenix in the past two years.
“I’ve seen Phoenix pop up more on the radar as an alternative to more traditional markets,” Barrett said, adding that there are a few tenants considering the market that would represent much larger investments in the life sciences in Phoenix than the Valley has traditionally seen.
Read more of this story from the Phoenix Business Journal.
