HB Reavis has invested €45m (£40m) into US real estate services company Cambridge Innovation Center to develop science and tech hubs across Europe.
CIC builds “innovation communities” – workspaces and laboratories targeting start-ups, corporate innovation spin-outs and venture capital funds. It has one site in Europe, in Rotterdam, which opened in September 2016.
The partners plan to branch into the UK and are exploring opportunities for tech hubs in Berlin, Frankfurt and other parts of Europe.
CIC has already leased 30% of HB Reavis’s Varso 2 development in Warsaw to set it up as the city’s tech hub. The space will be CIC’s second site in Europe – and first in partnership with HB Reavis. The partners said the expansion into Poland was a reflection of the country’s growing economy and recent reclassification by the OECD as a developed country.
The office will provide more than 150,000 sq ft for occupiers working in energy, biotech, digital and new materials.
Marian Herman, chief executive of HB Reavis, said: “Our alliance with Cambridge Innovation Centre directly supports our strategy of partnering with the best innovation and workspace specialists in the world, to provide outstanding workplace solutions for businesses of all sizes.
“We’re looking forward to launching CIC Warsaw as the first of many projects together, designed to engage with entrepreneurial ecosystems and establish innovation campuses throughout Europe.”
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