David Clem

David Clem is the founder and managing partner of Lyme Properties, a leading developer of life science research space. Lyme has successfully permitted, developed, and leased over three million square feet of space, including Genzyme Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Center for Life Science in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area. Lyme has won numerous national awards for architecture, urban design, brownfield redevelopment, and sustainability. Prior to selling the portfolio in 2007, Lyme was the largest developer and owner of life science research laboratories east of the Mississippi River.

Prior to founding Lyme in 1993, Clem was a principal in the Athenaeum Group, a Cambridge-based company specializing in adaptive reuse, including the first privately financed biotech laboratory space in One Kendall Square. The Athenaeum Group was instrumental in making Kendall Square the location of choice on the East Coast for life science research companies. 

As a graduate student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Clem was elected to the Cambridge City Council and served as chief of staff to the then-lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. He has served on the boards of a number of nonprofit institutions, including Berklee College of Music, advising on real estate and government relations matters.

Clem continues to oversee Lyme Properties, concentrating on mixed-use projects with a life science laboratory component such as River Park in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, historic preservation such as the Dominican Block in Lewiston, Maine, and adaptive reuse such as the Wilder Center in Wilder, Vermont. He is also known for his Texas barbecue adventures.