Vacancy in the Madison life science market increased slightly to 4% but remains low, according to the latest Life Science Market Overview published by Broadwing Advisors.
The report, released Wednesday, said the 4% vacancy rate represents 193,229 vacant square feet for the market’s 89 lab properties, which total nearly 4.8 million square feet.
A vacancy rate of under 5% is indicative of strong tenant demand, but it is not always a foolproof sign of a healthy commercial real estate market.
The Broadwing report said Dane County’s low vacancy rate limits companies’ ability to quickly accommodate growth.
Most available lab space is predominantly located in University Research Park and the west submarket.
Transactions and other activity that took place in the last six months is positive, “but nothing crazy or big,” Craig Stanley, founding principal of Broadwing Advisors, said in an email.
It includes:
- ANI Pharma’s 27,000-square-foot building purchase, a facility in Verona for API manufacturing;
- AbbVie’s 6,000-square-foot expansion in University Research Park, which followed its spring 2025 purchase of Nimble Therapeutics;
- Abington Health’s new $1.8 billion manufacturing hub in University Research Park.
In terms of life science jobs as a share of the local workforce, the report said Madison’s 2.8% share compares favorably to certain large cities, including Philadelphia (2.1%), and even states like New Jersey (also 2.1%).
The leading cities in this category are Raleigh/Durham (5.1%), San Diego and Boston (both 4.8%) and San Francisco (4.7%).
Stanley said in an email that Madison continued to have a tight market, where demand outpaces supply, but activity was limited due to tight capital markets.
“I think our percentage of labor is also a great sign for the future of bio health in Madison,” he said.
Meanwhile, the national life science market continues to struggle with higher vacancy caused by speculative development, the report said.
The report gathered data from local landlords and agents, national market data from Cushman and Wakefield, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
