CREW Boston’s October luncheon at Boston’s InterContinental focused on the future of Kendall Square, the most innovative square mile in the world, with its dense cluster of life science, technology and education sectors thriving off of each other. Our panel included Bob Coughlin, president and CEO of MassBio; Tom Andrews, executive vice president of Alexandria Real Estate Equities; Bill Kane, senior vice president of BioMed Realty; Michael Owu, director at MIT Investment Management Co.; and Michael Cantalupa, senior vice president of Boston Properties. Tina Cassidy, executive vice president and chief content officer at InkHouse served as moderator.
The panelists said Kendall Square is poised for continued growth and development. Even though developers added 9 million square feet of commercial lab space to Cambridge since 2007, 4 million of which has been built since 2013, demand continues to outstrip supply.
A majority of Cambridge’s workforce is in biotech research and development. Biopharma jobs in Cambridge grew by 4.2 percent in 2015 for a total growth of 37 percent over the last ten years. With every indicator of the Massachusetts biotechnology industry showing signs of continued growth there are challenges and opportunities ahead, including that:
- There needs to be greater access. In order to retain a culture of innovation that startups bring to a place like Kendall Square, having affordable lab and office space -- as well as housing -- is essential and increasingly rare. Prices for lab space are now hitting record highs of $70 per square foot. Meanwhile, having a transit system that can make commuting less of a challenge is equally important, and something that the panel agreed needs to be a focus of state and local government.
- Urban fabric is becoming more lively: Farmers markets, live music, a skating rink, great restaurants, cool bars -- Kendall Square is becoming more of a scene. For example, Michael Owu, Director MIT Investment Management Co., shared the institution’s plans to redevelop six parking lots into a thriving retail, housing and public open space. Of course, all of this is good for tenants whose employees value an environment that allow them to think creatively and collectively. They want spaces that balances hard work and fun. While this trend is not new in office space, it finally happening in Kendall Square.
- Architecture and design are being used as innovation tools: Whether it’s finding new ways to reduce energy costs, creating new outdoor spaces that allow for collaboration, incorporating amenities that allow tenants to maintain a healthy lifestyle, or adapting older buildings for new uses, there’s a new emphasis on design in Kendall Square.
What makes Kendall Square so powerful is its concentration of prestigious companies like Genzyme, Facebook and Google with startups and world class universities such as MIT and Harvard. How we maintain this mix while allowing it to grow is the question.
Thank you to InkHouse for our luncheon recap.
