Lab, Cleanroom and GMP Space in Metro Vancouver — A Leasing Primer
Lab space is the least forgiving corner of the industrial market. Pick the wrong building and the cost is months of permitting, six figures of surprise capex and credibility with funders.
June 11, 2026 · 2 min read · By Samuel Brahem, in association with NAI Commercial
Where the cluster sits
- Burnaby: Discovery Park, Big Bend and the Still Creek corridor hold the deepest biotech inventory, and purpose-built lab space there rarely turns over
- Vancouver proper: Mount Pleasant, False Creek Flats and Olympic Village, with 3,000–15,000 sq. ft. footprints at premium rents near UBC, BC Cancer and BC Children's
- Richmond: diagnostics, agritech and YVR-adjacent cold-chain biologics
- Surrey: Innovation Boulevard near SFU Surrey and Fraser Health — newer buildings, lower rents, thinner cluster
What the numbers look like at mid-2026
Fitted lab space trades at $28 to $50+ per sq. ft. net, with operating costs of $9 to $15. Shell industrial converted to lab use prices closer to the regional base of about $19.10 net ($19.67 in Burnaby, $20.10 in Vancouver), but the tenant carries the fit-out. Wet-lab build-outs run $80 to $200 per sq. ft.; GMP runs $300 to $600+. Terms of 7 to 15 years are normal, and TI allowances of $80 to $200+ per sq. ft. are achievable against credit or letter-of-credit security.
A full shell-to-lab conversion lands at $150 to $300+ per sq. ft. and 9 to 18 months from signing to occupancy. HVAC alone — 100% outside air, BSC and fume hood exhaust — is $40 to $80 of that. For CL3 or GMP, conversion rarely beats purpose-built.
Plan the facility around funding milestones, not the other way around.
Timing by path
- Pre-fitted lab: 60–120 days to occupancy
- Shell-to-lab conversion: 9–18 months
- Build-to-suit: 18–30 months
- Seed and Series A: incubators and shared labs (adMare, university space); Series B and later: 7–10 year terms with expansion options
How to run the search
Define the scientific program first — containment level, instrument profile, three-year headcount, regulatory pathway. Translate that into a building spec: power (400A to 2,000A is typical), HVAC, plumbing, floor loading, vibration tolerance, zoning. Then filter. Public listings surface a fraction of what fits; Discovery Park subleases and Big Bend conversion candidates move through landlord relationships. Underwrite term, TI, capex and validation timeline together, and match due diligence to the specialty risk.
