Costello Medical takes first letting at 50-60 Station Road in Cambridge

Brookgate and Aviva Investors have pre-let 21,388 sq ft of office space to Costello Medical at 50-60 Station Road, the latest speculative development in the city.

Currently under construction, 50-60 Station Road will offer 156,000 sq ft of grade A office space at CB1, the new business quarter.

Offices are available from 5,400 sq ft with typical floors of 21,400 sq ft, and it is intended that some of the building will contain co-working space.

Costello Medical is at the forefront in its field of scientific support to the healthcare sector and was also named in the Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to work for.

The business, which will expand out of its existing premises at City House in Cambridge, was attracted to the high-quality office space available at CB1.

Costello Medical is the first tenant to commit to the building. Early commitment is a necessity for businesses in Cambridge because of a shortage of high-quality city centre supply and a limited development pipeline, combined with an array of businesses growing and requiring more space.

The building, designed by Grimshaw, is currently under construction and is due to be completed in spring 2019. Detailed negotiations are under way with a number of other occupiers on a large proportion of the remainder of the building. Existing occupiers in CB1 include Amazon, which took 60,000 sq ft at One Station Square at the beginning of 2017, as well as Microsoft Research, Thales, Deloitte, Centrica and Raspberry Pi.

Brookgate is the developer of 50-60 Station Road with Aviva as the investor. Bidwells and JLL acted on behalf of Brookgate to secure the lease.

Christian Anderton, associate director at Aviva Investors Real Estate, said: “The success of this letting, approximately 15 months before practical completion, not only underpins our belief in the 50-60 Station Road project, but the wider CB1 scheme.

“To have secured a growing native business, with the opportunity to move forward alongside one another, is a significant driver in our long-term commitment to Cambridge. With the inherent, consistent economic strength of the city, matched with the current occupational interest in the building, we are very optimistic about the next 12 months.”

Sven Topel, chief executive at Brookgate, said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming Costello Medical to CB1 and their decision is testament to the enduring attractiveness of the area to high-quality employers. Costello Medical join a host of innovative companies already at CB1.

“Our ambition has been to create the office space that is going to attract the best kind of business to Cambridge, enabling the city to continue to prosper.”

Sophie Costello, co-founder of Costello Medical, added: “Costello Medical are delighted to be committing to 50-60 Station Road. Nine years ago, when the company was founded in a spare bedroom in a house in Cambridge, we would never have dreamed that one day we would occupy such premium space in the centre of the city.

“The building’s high-quality offering and brilliant location fit exactly with the home we want to provide our talented, dedicated and hard-working team, and we are very excited to be joining the other innovative companies who occupy CB1.”