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City of dreaming spires, Oxford is a cornerstone of the life sciences golden triangle and a market upon which attention has heightened during the Covid-19 pandemic. Already home to four unicorn life sciences companies, the city has become a magnet for fledgling firms and established multinationals alike. Take-up in Oxford was 76% of average levels in 2020, with offices in the edge-of-town science parks fashioned for laboratory use. In turn, this has driven rents across the city to new levels, now in excess of £35 per sq ft for edge-of-town schemes and in the mid £40s per sq ft in the core.
The rental rise is spurring a new speculative development pipeline. Thomas White Oxford, soon to be in conjunction with Stanhope, will bring forward Oxford North with around 1 million sq ft of commercial space focused on life sciences. The next phase of The Oxford Science Park also beckons, beautifully designed by Perkins&Will, and will complement Brookfield Asset Management’s investment at Harwell to refresh this core technology and science scheme. To the north, Begbroke Science Park will have a new focus, with L&G and Bruntwood SciTech investing. As connections improve across the Oxford-Cambridge Arc by train, the city is set for further growth, physically and in rental value.
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