CBRE Welcomes Industry Leading Life Sciences Broker Trio in Seattle

CBRE announced that three life sciences specialists have joined its Seattle office. Chris Moe and Hans Kemp join as Executive Vice Presidents and will be co-leaders of CBRE’s Life Sciences practice in the Northwest. Austin Arper joins as a First Vice President. The trio specializes in advising companies in the growing life sciences sector, including biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device organizations.

The life sciences real estate market has performed well this year despite a slowdown in venture capital funding and headwinds that challenged the broader economy. In Seattle, there are 15 tenants in the market for a cumulative 400,000 sq. ft. of life sciences space, according to CBRE’s third quarter report on the sector. Lab vacancy in Seattle stands at just 6.9%, less than half the market’s office vacancy rate of 17.6%. Earlier this year, Seattle ranked as the ninth-leading market in the U.S. for life sciences talent with the number of life sciences researchers up 24% between 2015 and 2020.

Mimicking national trends, life sciences venture capital funding is down in Seattle compared to 2021’s record-breaking year but remains robust. Life sciences venture capital funding totaled $1.3 billion over the first three quarters of 2022, compared to $1.9 billion in the first three quarters of 2021. In addition to venture capital funding, the National Institutes of Health continues to invest in Puget Sound life sciences research projects, awarding $1.3 billion to projects in Washington State over the past year, the seventh-highest amount among U.S. states.

“The life sciences sector is one of the Puget Sound region’s fastest-growing property types, and these professionals have been the top players in the sector for 20 years. The real estate needs of life sciences organizations are distinct and complex, and this team has the experience and knowledge to execute for their clients. Chris, Hans and Austin merging their practices and adding the breadth and depth of CBRE’s global platform to support them creates an unmatched combination in our market,” said John R. Miller, senior managing director of the Pacific Northwest, CBRE.

Mr. Kemp and Mr. Arper were previously with Flinn Ferguson, and Mr. Moe with Kidder Mathews.

Mr. Moe most recently led Kidder Mathews’ Life Science Advisory group for the Puget Sound region. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon and currently serves as foundation board member for the Institute for Systems Biology and a regional board member for GenNext.

Mr. Kemp has advised life sciences organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest and other recognized scientific markets domestically and abroad and is widely regarded as a leading industry expert. Prior to Flinn Ferguson, he held roles at JLL and The Staubach Company, where he was a founding partner in Seattle. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon.

Mr. Arper has spent the last 10 years representing fast-growing life sciences and technology-based companies both domestically and abroad. He is a Washington native and graduated with a Finance degree from the University of Washington Foster School of Business.

The combined team has completed more than 2.7 million sq. ft. of life sciences transactions over the past five years, representing approximately 85% of all life sciences activity in the Puget Sound region.

“We welcome Chris, Hans and Austin to CBRE’s growing life sciences team, bringing their decades of experience and perspective into the fold with our thriving practice across North America and beyond,” said Matt Gardner, CBRE Americas Life Sciences Leader. “Adding these experts in the life sciences hub of Seattle reinforces CBRE’s perspective that this industry continues to grow in clusters anchored on academic excellence, based on strong scientific fundamentals that persist even when broader markets experience leaner times.”

The three producers are the latest in a series of regional hires at CBRE. In January, CBRE announced that a high-profile office tenant representation team joined its Puget Sound offices, followed by a leading agency leasing team in February. In total, CBRE has recruited 20 producers from competitive firms since the start of 2021. CBRE is the largest commercial real estate brokerage firm in the Puget Sound region by number of licensed professionals.