Challenges in the Denver-Boulder life sciences real estate market have leveled off with a spike in leasing activity and venture capital funding to local companies at the end of 2024.

The metro area’s vacancy rate for labs spiked from around 8.5% in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 11.4% by the end of 2024, according to CBRE data. But quarter-over-quarter, the vacancy rate remained roughly level, indicating an increase in leasing as project deliveries trailed off.

Although deliveries at the end of 2024 were scant, the construction pipeline remains robust, with about 400K SF being built in Q4, according to CBRE.

Major developments in the pipeline include the 360K SF Coal Creek Innovation Park and Terra Boulder, a 217K SF office and lab building, according to Savills. Both projects are expected to break ground this year. A 198K SF expansion by Agilent Technologies and a 71K SF project at Colorado State University’s Foothills Campus are planned for groundbreaking in 2026.

Fitzsimons Innovation Community in Aurora continues to attract companies, with RefinedScience choosing the Bioscience 3 building as its headquarters.

Boulder is seeing steady leasing activity. Integrated DNA Technologies renewed for 48K SF at 2425-2555 55th St., while VitriVax took 41K SF at 5500 Central Ave.

But compared to the blockbuster 555K SF 10 World Trade building in Boston expected to be delivered this quarter or a 364K SF building on a 1.2M SF Bay Area campus that should complete in the second quarter, Denver’s deals remain midsized.

Venture capital funding surged 28% year-over-year in 2024 to $881M. Only two years, 2021 and 2022, saw higher investment totals in the region’s life sciences industry, with $1.5B and $1.3B, respectively.

The biggest win for the VC market came from Enveda, which landed $130M in Series C funding, the largest deal of the year. But Ambrosia Biosciences’ $25M Series A funding round, while significantly smaller, could signal growing interest from Big Pharma in the region with its $6M investment from Merck.

Other investments, like OncoVerity's $14M Series A and Transverse Medical's $10M in later-stage venture capital funding, added to the momentum.

The Merck-backed Ambrosia investment could be a sign of things to come as major pharmaceutical firms look outside the coasts for emerging biotech talent. But for now, Denver-Boulder’s life sciences sector remains in growth mode, building momentum but still playing catch-up.

Denver’s funding totals still pale in comparison to those of more established biotech markets. Boston-Cambridge pulled in $9.1B in life sciences VC funding last year, nearly 10 times Denver’s total. San Diego saw a 63% jump in VC funding to $5.2B, led by $120M for Angitia Biopharmaceuticals, while New York recorded its strongest life sciences funding year since 2021 with $4.2B.

CORRECTION: March 4, 3:25 P.M. ET: Due to an error in a broker’s report, this story incorrectly listed Integrated DNA Technologies’ address. It has been corrected.