As the life sciences sector grows in North Texas, developers are scrambling to provide state-of-the-art, brick-and-mortar spaces.
The Dallas Regional Chamber estimates that Dallas-Fort Worth currently ranks seventh in the nation, with 90,000 life science and biotech jobs and estimates that number will keep growing steadily. Over 220 Life Science companies have relocated or expanded in DFW since 2010, according to the chamber.
It recently began a campaign to attract more life science companies to the metroplex. The chamber has launched a new website and has hired Kelly Cloud as vice president of economic development for life sciences.
But as the industry grows here, development may not be keeping pace, even with incoming expansions to Pegasus Park and a massive proposed life science campus in Plano.
No city in Texas is currently in the top 10 for life sciences real estate development, according to a JLL report. While Houston has the largest medical center in the world and boasts over 1,700 life sciences companies, and Austin continues to see high capital investment in the industry, DFW is working to secure more growth.
“Top life sciences clusters continue to stay strong, but emerging markets are currently planting the seeds for long-term opportunities,” the JLL report stated.
To promote local growth within the life sciences sector, a number of factors are required, according to JLL: An abundance of purpose-built lab space, a strong talent pipeline including local college graduates with S.T.E.M. degrees and a variety of capital funding opportunities.
With about 75 percent of University of Texas at Dallas students pursuing and graduating with S.T.E.M. degrees, and over a $1 billion in local capital funding, JLL reports DFW is primed for explosive growth in the industry.
A number of new developments, renovations and expansion are underway or proposed to accommodate the sector’s local growth but much more will be needed to compete with top life science cities such as Boston and San Francisco. DFW’s lab inventory is around 4 million square feet, far behind Boston’s 43 million and San Francisco’s 26 million, JLL states.
Here is a look at some of the new developments in the works across DFW:
The Campus at Legacy | 5360 Legacy Drive
NexPoint Real Estate’s proposed $3 billion renovation and expansion of the Campus at Legacy in Plano might be the region’s most ambitious life science development. The 100-plus acre campus was once the headquarters of H. Ross Perot’s legendary Electronic Data Systems. It now stands empty, and NexPoint is pushing Plano for tax breaks and grants to foster the redevelopment.
NexPoint plans to expand the campus to 200 acres with over 4 million square feet of lab, office and therapeutic production space across four phases of construction.
Development firm CRB would partner with NexPoint on the project, while JLL would manage and lease the new facilities. NexPoint purchased the main campus in 2018 and is working on acquiring surrounding acreage for the project. A construction timeline has not been announced.
Pegasus Park | 3000 Pegasus Park Drive
Pegasus Park, a 23-acre former oil industry campus in Dallas, is already being reimagined by JLL into a life sciences and biotech hub. A 135,000-square-foot lab and office building expansion is likely coming to the campus by next year.
Called “Bridge Labs,” it will feature state-of-the-art life sciences specs and access to $4 million in lab equipment.
The Pegasus Park campus is already the epicenter for North Texas’ life science ecosystem, and the expansion would offer “the first institutional-quality space” in Dallas-Fort Worth, according to JLL. The campus can accommodate roughly 1 million square feet of future on-site development, its website states.
Cypress Waters | 9111 Cypress Waters Boulevard
Verily, Google’s life science subsidiary, opened its first Texas office at Cypress Waters, a mixed-use commercial complex near DFW airport in 2022. While Verily recently laid off 15 percent of its workforce, it is going ahead with a $4 million interior renovation of its facilities at Cypress Waters, according to a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing.
Cypress Waters is a 1,000-acre master planned community situated around a 300-acre lake with office, multifamily and retail.
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