A new life sciences facility announced for Boulder County, Colorado, this week joins a growing list of projects underscoring the growth of Boulder and Denver biotech development.

The 365K SF, $280M Coal Creek Innovation Park in nearby Superior, set to break ground next year and open in 2024, is the result of a joint partnership between PMB and Montgomery Street Partners. It’s the first such spec project in Boulder County.

The plans call for a 27K SF spec suite, three office/lab buildings between 85K and 150K SF, and a fourth building with retail and parking. CBRE will be in charge of leasing the space, located on the US 36 corridor between Denver and Boulder.

“There is a significant unmet need for institutional-quality space, with the existing inventory largely comprised of small-scale (under 60K SF) converted single-story flex product, which offer limited expansion opportunities for high-growth and/or more mature life science companies,” PMB Senior Vice President of Development Ben Rosenfeld said in a statement. “Coal Creek Innovation Park will fill the purpose-built lab space void in the market, delivering almost 400,000 sq. ft. of R&D specified lab space in Boulder County.

CBRE named the Denver/Boulder region as the 11th-best life sciences real estate market in the nation this year, noting that it is home to the largest number of bioengineers and biomedical engineers in the country. Recent developments in the region, including BioMed’s 1M SF acquisition near the University of Boulder and Breakthrough Properties’ 164K SF Boulder project, are in part a reaction to sky-high demand, as evidenced by the sub-2% vacancy rate recorded earlier this year.