Life sciences’ expansion to the Asia Pacific region presents significant real estate opportunities

Tenants are searching for longer leases and/or ownership agreements to ensure excellent, specialized space

Forecasts for APAC in 2022 point to sustained economic growth, driven by outsized increases in India and mainland China. This year, CBRE anticipates that leasing demand will grow strongly in the office and retail sectors, and the logistics sector will also expand.

In 2022, CBRE anticipates quicker decision-making, flight-to-quality relocation, and reworking of workspaces as organisations gain confidence in the return to the office and hybrid working.

The expansion of e-commerce and omnichannel distribution operators will continue to drive logistics space demand while solid growth in the grocery, food production, and delivery sectors will fuel competition for cold storage space.

More: Investment potential for Asia Pacific real estate remains strong

Life sciences companies’ rapid expansion into the Asia Pacific region will present significant opportunities for commercial property owners and developers.

In the wake of the pandemic, the health sector’s profile and profitability have increased, fuelling optimism. 

In addition to greater space, tenants are searching for longer leases and/or ownership agreements to ensure excellent, specialized space in the long run. R&D facilities and medical offices are likely to generate the most occupier demand as the sector matures in the region.

The majority of corporate real estate and facilities management professionals polled by JLL believe the life sciences outlook for the region will improve by 2025. Sixty percent of respondents require more medical offices while 56 percent need space for manufacturing sites.

“Life sciences occupiers will increasingly require innovative spaces in order to meet business objectives. However, the biggest challenge they will face is the lack of specialized real estate capable of facilitating the growth potential of the sector. Our conversations with clients lead us to believe that the solution will require more partnership between life sciences occupiers, landlords and developers to tailor real estate to meet the sector’s changing demands,” says Richard Cheeseman, Head of Life Sciences, Asia Pacific, JLL.

The Property Report editors wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected]