Mark Glatman’s Abstract Securities has lodged new proposals for its Cambridge International Technology Park scheme, now estimated to have a gross development value of £400m-£500m.
The developer has submitted plans for a circa 500,000 sq ft office and laboratory campus after buying the leasehold for an adjoining site on Fulbourn Road to extend the scheme, which previously provided a 300,000 sq ft floor area. It now owns nearly 15.3 acres of development land.
Mark Glatman, chief executive of Abstract, said the firm “jumped at the opportunity to buy the balance of this allocated land” from the University of Cambridge’s Peterhouse college, after its initial purchase last summer.
As part of the deal, Peterhouse will retain the freehold ownership for the land, with Abstract holding a 175-year ground lease on each site. These will generate 3% ground rent after the buildings are completed and let.
Works are expected to start this summer, with the first 105,000 sq ft building ready for occupation in 2023. A further four buildings will measure 75,000 sq ft to 250,000 sq ft, for either single or multi-occupation.
Christopher McPherson, development director of Abstract Securities, said the scheme will accommodate lettings upwards of 12,500 sq ft.
The Cambridge International Technology Park, which will be aimed at life sciences and biotechnology tenants, as well as more traditional office occupiers, currently comprises open farmland zoned for business use.
It sits adjacent to Peterhouse Technology Park, which is the location of the global headquarters of semiconductor company Arm.
Glatman said: “As with all Abstract schemes, we are focused on providing buildings of the highest quality with great environmental credentials, but this scheme will also be shaped by what has been learnt through the pandemic and I am confident that the wellness offering will be second-to-none, particularly as occupiers start encouraging their teams back into the workplace.”
Architect Scott Brownrigg has been retained on the scheme, while Bowmer & Kirkland has been appointed to build it out.
Bidwells represented Peterhouse. Abstract was advised by Pinsent Masons and Peterhouse by Mills and Reeve. Bidwells and Cheffins are the park’s retained letting agents.
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