23-acre Coldham’s Lane site in Cambridge could be ‘world-class science and innovation campus’
A 23-acre site on Coldham’s Lane in Cambridge has been identified as a potential location to boost to the UK’s life sciences capability – a world-class science and innovation campus less than 10 minutes from the city centre.
The project is the fifth and largest acquisition by the specialist science and innovation development joint venture formed in January 2021 between Mission Street and BentallGreenOak. The proposal is the second major lab space development proposed for the ecosystem this month.
Subject to planning permission, the 23-acre site presents the opportunity to deliver an “innovative masterplan”, says the joint venture. It aims to offer future occupiers and the public a unique offering: an open innovation campus with transformative landscaping, new café and play area with access and views across the adjacent lakes as well as a dedicated pedestrian and cycle route to the city-centre.
The partnership combines the talents of London-based Mission Street, a specialist mixed-use investor, developer and operator of real estate for the sciences and innovation sector established in 2017, and BentallGreenOak, a New York-based real estate investment management advisor and a globally-recognised provider of real estate services.
Artem Korolev is founder and CEO of Mission Street, which has managed more than one million sq ft of UK commercial property with major institutional investors and family office since launch, including both development and value add asset management.
He said: “This new acquisition provides the potential to deliver the most centrally located science and innovation district in Cambridge.
“The site will provide the opportunity to deliver our vision for the next generation of commercial science real estate in the UK: integrating the scheme into Cambridge’s urban fabric, with collaboration and sustainability at its heart. We look forward to working with the stakeholders and local community as we work through our plans.”
Meanwhile, BentallGreenOak serves the interests of 750 institutional clients with $80bn of assets under management (as of June 30, 2022) and offers expertise in the asset management of office, industrial, multi-residential, retail and hospitality property in 28 cities in 13 countries around the globe. BentallGreenOak is a part of SLC Management, which is the alternatives asset management business of Sun Life.
Toby Phelps, managing partner at BentallGreenOak, said: “We continue to have conviction that the science and innovation sector in the UK will be a source of growth and opportunity for strategic, purpose-driven real estate investment.
“Cambridge is at the epicentre of this dynamic industry and the current severe shortage of specialist space highlights the opportunity we see in the sector. We are looking forward to working with our partner, Mission Street, and the broader Cambridge business and governmental community to bring this exciting project to fruition.”
Research from Bidwells recently revealed that despite a growing demand for two million sq ft of space from companies of all sizes, there are no available laboratories left to let in the life sciences cluster of Cambridge.
Life science-focused real estate development has struggled to keep pace with record-breaking fundraising levels among biotech companies – who raised £4.5bn last year – and current supply constraints have this yearbecome a critical consideration in the development of the Cambridge phenomenon. The platform now has a development pipeline of more than one million sq ft of lab and office space in key strategic UK locations, with initial schemes in Oxford and Cambridge due for completion in mid-2023.
