100 Staples Drive, Framingham. Courtesy photo

The new owner of 100 Staples Drive in Framingham is marketing the vacant 160,000-square-foot campus as office and lab space.

Calare Properties acquired the property last month for $9.5 million and has hired CBRE as leasing agent.

Calare is positioning the property as part of a growing lab cluster in Framingham offering rent discounts to urban life science locations.

Set on 11.5 acres, the property includes flexible floor plates, over 13-foot ceiling heights and 30-by-30-foot column spacing. Developers plan capital improvements including a new café and installation of clean building technology, including enhanced ventilation.

“Framingham is quickly growing as a hub for life sciences research, development and manufacturing within the MetroWest region’s thriving biotech ecosystem,” Todd Barclay, senior vice president of acquisitions at Calare, said in a statement.

The MetroWest lab market had 178,732 square feet of positive absorption in the second quarter, according to CBRE’s MarketView report. Average asking rents hit all-time highs of $70.58 on a triple-net basis, a $5.42 increase over the first quarter.

Overall, Boston suburbs have 1.1 million square feet of positive absorption in lab space since in 2021, CBRE reported.