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Cambridge is home to a long-established and mature life sciences cluster. Yet virtually no office space currently available on the market is suitable for companies in the sector. To date, named requirements total 900,000 sq ft, virtually all of which requires laboratory provision. And this supply-demand mismatch has only been amplified by the pandemic. Every investor platform now wants a slice of the action, resulting in rapidly inflating land values. A clear example of this is the sale of 15-acre Cambridge International Technology Park (CITP) by Abstract Securities to BioMed Realty for £140m - an almost 10 times multiplier to their entry price.
In 2022 and beyond, anticipate the expansion of all the science-led schemes - Cambridge Science Park, Granta Park, and Babraham Research Campus – as well as lower-profile Melbourne Science Park, Cambridge Research Park - and possibly Cambourne Business Park, where Life Science REIT have invested part of their £500m Life Sciences fund. Planning hurdles have delayed some 5.6m sq ft of development pipeline. PACE now have their long fought for planning consent for Betjeman House, a 290,000 sq ft HQ on Hills Road. M&G with Wrenbridge are on-site delivering Brooklands Avenue / Clarendon Road, which will land 65,000 sq ft in 2023. Proposals at Cambridge North, part of the North East Cambridge Action Area plan, will see Schroders and Brookgate developing further phases, tied in closely to the new station connectivity.
Patience is needed by any occupier needing space in the city and, in the meantime, rents will rise.
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