One Station Hill is a best-in-class 275,000-square-foot office development in the heart of Reading. It is a gateway into the wider Station Hill development, which when will have delivered over 625,000 square feet of workspace, 95,000 square feet of retail, food, and entertainment spaces, 1,300 new homes and a 200-bed hotel, leading judges to hand it a CoStar Impact award.
The building’s central position adjacent to Reading Station is a critical value driver, with over 700 daily trains between Reading and London Paddington and over 20 million passengers a year passing through the station. A significant amount of infrastructure investment has been made in Reading in recent years, including the extensive upgrade of the main railway station and the completion of the Elizabeth line.
The project’s total cost per square metre is £4,726.86 for the gross internal area, between 5% and 27% cheaper than a typical London office development of a similar size or specification and Lincoln MGT is achieving office rents at 30% above market. The attractiveness of the scheme is demonstrated by the fact that 60% of available space has already been let or is under offer, with international businesses PepsiCo, PwC and NewFlex the first occupiers, accounting for 115,000 square feet of prime office space.
About the project:
Lincoln MGT wanted to establish a new "front door" to Reading. Station Hill had effectively been undeveloped for two decades when the joint venture acquired it in June 2018. Three different owners or developers had unsuccessfully struggled to conceive viable plans for the area. It was home to: the derelict Friars Walk Shopping Centre; Western Tower, a 1970s office block that had been disused for decades; a dilapidated multi-storey concrete car park; and Reading Bus Depot. In February 2020, Lincoln MGT brought forward plans to level the entire scheme and provide a level link across Garrard Street.
The area has become a mix of open space and buildings, with new public realm providing a gateway between the town centre and the station, including an improved cycle route thanks to the refurbishment of the station underpass.
In addition, a focus on encouraging independent and local businesses as retail tenants, including Siren Craft Brew and Yolk Café, means Lincoln is trying to avoid the label of being just another "identikit" development filled with national chains.
Lincoln MGT invested more than £50 million into social infrastructure and landscaping and once the scheme is fully occupied and operational, it estimates One Station Hill has the potential to generate £357 million in social value through the construction phases and over a five-year operational period,
During the construction of One Station Hill, nearly 3,000 jobs were created, including 800 roles filled by local residents. The project has also hosted the UK-wide Pathways to Property Summer School welcoming over 250 students aged 16-18 from underrepresented backgrounds to gain real-world exposure to the property sector.
The building was targeted to achieve a minimum of BREEAM ‘excellent’ and EPC A (for the shell and core), WELL Building target Platinum, Active Score target Platinum and Cycling Score target platinum, AirRated assessment ‘platinum’ with advanced filtration and monitoring system and Net Zero in operation. Tenants have access to a gym with showers, an onsite concierge, club lounge, restaurant and terrace.
What the judges said:
"I think One Station Hill should win Commercial Development of the Year because it's been transformational in the elevation of Reading’s town centre. It's creating thousands of jobs, attracted major tenants like PepsiCo and PwC, and brought real economic and social value to the area. It’s also set a new standard for sustainability with targets like BREEAM Excellent and Net Zero in operation. After years of stalled development on the site, One Station Hill has turned it into a vibrant, thriving hub that’s having a massive impact on the community and the local economy, " said Hannah McNamara, Co-Founder, P-Three
"Station Hill has redefined Reading in much the same way as The Oracle [local shopping centre] did when it originally opened. It has changed the focus of the town, centring it directly on the station and heightening the fabulous links that this scheme enjoys not only with central London but also the 90 other national destinations that can be reached from Reading station. The new public realm enhanced by quality public art installations has given a real lift to the whole arrival experience of Reading. We look forward to reading about the success this scheme will undoubtedly have in attracting major world class occupiers to the region," added Jonathan Mannings, Founding Director, Rare Consulting.
Eamonn D'Arcy, Professor of International Real Estate, University of Reading, said: " Transformative impact on Reading town centre. Over fifteen years since the conception of the project but delivered at last. "
They made it happen:
Alex Aitchison, the managing director of Lincoln Property Company UK, Callum Thorneycroft, managing director of MGT Investment Management and John Badman, residential leader at architect Gensler, worked on the project, while the landlord representatives were Ollie McLeod from JLL and Tom Fletcher from Hatch Real Estate.