Medical device company ViewRay will relocate its headquarters from Cleveland to Denver, the latest win for a region that wants to grow its presence as a life sciences hub.

ViewRay manufactures and sells radiation therapy systems, and said in a news release that the move from the Cleveland area will “help attract top-tier talent from the state’s growing medical technology sector.”

ViewRay’s 50-plus local employees work in 14K SF in Granite Tower at 1099 18th St. in downtown Denver.

The company plans to add a 10K SF training center to support development, manufacturing and physician training elsewhere in the Denver metropolitan area in 2023, ViewRay Director of Marketing Communications Samantha Pfeil told Bisnow in an email.

ViewRay’s area employee levels have grown fivefold since it established an office here in 2019, and it expects to add high-paying roles in product development, manufacturing and quality control, according to the release.

The area’s strong recruiting base, competitive compensation rates and quality of life ranks high from a talent recruiting perspective, Pfeil said.

As of February, bioscience companies made up the largest share of prospects in the economic development pipeline for metro Denver, and state and local officials have big goals for growing the life sciences industry.

But the Denver market, like many others across the country, lacks the kind of specialized laboratory space that these companies need. Some large investors have taken note of the area's potential, with the Blackstone-backed BioMed Realty Trust plowing a reported $600M into the area in April.

Examples of life sciences' impact on commercial real estate extend across the Denver metropolitan area.

Developer Brue Bakol shifted its original mixed-use plans for 390 acres at Redtail Ridge in Louisville to focus on biotech.  In Aurora, the Fitzsimons Innovation Community recently launched a new, interactive website “built with site selectors in mind.”

Although the major players in the life sciences scene, like Boston and San Diego, still command the largest share of companies, smaller markets are increasingly on the radar for companies in search of talent, JLL Head of Life Sciences, Industries Americas, Travis McCready, told Bisnow.