Case Study
EDC convened Life Sciences Task Force, spurred creation of City of San Diego permit program
ServiceStrategic Partnerships
ServiceRegulatory/Permitting Support
MARCH 2024
In 2020, San Diego Regional EDC—in collaboration with Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., Biocom, and a coalition of employers—launched the Life Sciences Task Force (LSTF) to build a strategic economic development framework that enables the industry to grow and thrive in the San Diego region. The project continues to position San Diego as the premier destination for Life Sciences investment, facilitate job creation via expansion of current companies, and attract, retain, and develop high quality Life Sciences talent.
Challenge
San Diego’s Life Sciences ecosystem has experienced significant growth since 2017, especially accelerated during the pandemic. A surge of venture capital investments in 2021 led to a significant increase in demand for lab space, talent, and more. At its peak, San Diego’s Life Sciences industry had 22 million square feet (sq. ft.) of lab and R&D space that spanned across 60 projects, with an additional 4.5 million sq. ft. of new and converted lab space under construction.
The investment and expansion of these projects was expected to bring significant job growth and economic impact critical to the region as it recovered from the pandemic. However, San Diego ranked last in average permit approval timelines compared to more than 20 competing peer metropolitan cities and last among all California peer metros in 2021 due to COVID related delays. These delays not only placed future expansions at risk, but also potentially delayed the development of life-saving therapeutics and technologies coming out of our region.
EDC solution and support provided
To address this economic development challenge, EDC facilitated multiple convenings with a variety of industry stakeholders, including a regional task force comprised of 25 Life Sciences companies, to identify the core obstacles to growth and create actionable solutions.
interviews By the Numbers
This qualitative work spotlighted bottlenecks in the City’s permitting process, revealing two core challenges: 1) a talent shortage at DSD due to massive COVID related turnover, and 2) the need to develop specific expertise for life sciences project such as office to lab conversion, with prioritized Life Science projects, not impeded by demand for other sectors such as residential project permitting.
EDC convened a roundtable discussion with Mayor Todd Gloria and members of the LSTF to communicate the risks these delays were causing to industry expansion and quality job creation and to recommend solutions. As a result, EDC in partnership with the City’s Development Services Department (DSD) created a new pilot program dedicated to expediting Life Sciences projects permit processing in the City of San Diego.
Value derived
Armed with these insights and research, the City’s Life Sciences Industry Pilot Program formally launched in March 2023. This new Pilot program not only provided each life sciences project with a dedicated internal project manager, but also with a new streamlined process to expedite permitting and regulatory needs. After one month, DSD saw processing times drop 11 percent, and within eight months, DSD was meeting almost all review dates across all divisions. A true public-private partnership success story, the program, now known as the Life Sciences Accelerator, has become permanent as of March 2024. It continues to ensure compliance, timely permitting, and job growth for San Diego’s Life Sciences ecosystem.
“San Diego is already home to more than 1,200 biotech companies. The Life Science Industry Accelerator is working to increase that number by providing the life science industry with all the necessary tools to help our city continue to be at the center of scientific research and development, which will ultimately improve our region’s economy and quality of life. San Diego Regional EDC continues to be a critical partner in supporting business expansion to grow quality jobs for San Diegans.”
— Mayor Todd Gloria
“In partnership with San Diego Regional EDC, we identified an opportunity to improve the permitting experience for businesses that will facilitate the expansion of high-impact life sciences projects. Since the launch of the permit program, we have received positive feedback from developers and companies alike, each celebrating the program’s success in expediting setup and review of qualified projects.”
— Elyse W. Lowe, Development Services Department Director
“Thanks to EDC and the Life Sciences Task Force, our recent expansion benefited from this strategic partnership and will continue to support our future growth.”
— Brent Gaylord, VP/GM Reagent and Assays, BD