A life science building that has been vacant since it was finished more than three years ago has secured the University of Washington Medicine as its first tenant, delivering a potential shot in the arm for the region’s life science sector.
UW Medicine's Institute for Protein Design leased the entire third floor totaling 31,837 square feet at 330 Yale from KKR in the first major life sciences deal of 2025 in greater Seattle — a major U.S. hub for biotech research — following a slowdown in tenant demand last year, brokerage CBRE said in a statement.
The nine-story lab building was acquired by private-equity giant KKR in a distress deal last July. The full-floor lease comes as research universities and the life science property industry face uncertainty about future federal funding amid diminished demand across the country for such properties.
In an early sign of rising demand for lab space in the region, investments by life science venture capital firms increased in Seattle last year, according to a recent CBRE research report. The region’s life science vacancy rate rose to over 19% at the end of last year, from around 6% in 2019, according to a separate update from Cushman & Wakefield.
Greater Seattle ranks among the top 10 regions the United States with 10.2 million square feet of life sciences buildings, according to the Cushman report. The region's lab facilities are concentrated mainly in downtown Seattle's Lake Union and in Bothell on the east side of Lake Washington.
A joint venture between global investor Invesco Real Estate and Lincoln Property Co. acquired 330 Yale in late 2021. Invesco and Lincoln, prompted by the region's standing as one of the nation's leading biotech hubs, announced plans to reposition the building from traditional offices to life sciences use.
The building failed to attract tenants, and the owners sold the building to KKR last July, according to a deed in lieu of foreclosure filed with King County. Lincoln Property Co. still manages the property.
KKR last fall started adding lab suites and other improvements to help attract tenants, according to the CBRE statement.
Funding cuts threaten demand
The Institute for Protein Design plans to build a new center of excellence for translational science at 330 Yale to "help us translate ideas from the lab into real-world benefits for humanity," said Director David Baker, a UW biochemistry professor who recently received the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
Lab vacancies remain elevated across the country, while about 17 million square feet of biotech office and lab construction projects were under construction nationwide at the start of 2025 — about half its year-earlier level, according to a new report from Colliers.
The Trump Administration has proposed cuts in National Institutes of Health grants that is a key funding source for university research projects. Life science industry and research institution leaders have warned that the new administration's policies could dampen life sciences industry growth, according to the Colliers report.
Hiring freezes and delayed grant renewals are disrupting research labs at UW Medicine and across the country, Baker warned last month during a speech at a Seattle event to honor his Nobel Prize-winning biomedical research.
Uncertainty about federal funding is forcing universities across the country to cut back on admissions at graduate schools, Baker said.
"It’s going to be much harder next year for students who want to pursue careers in science to become scientists," he added.
For the record
CBRE’s Paul Carr, Marcus Yamamoto and Katie Smith represented the landlord in the lease.