Mark Glatman's Abstract Securities has announced that its associated company, Abstract Mid-Tech, has speculatively started work on the first phase of a major development aimed at life sciences and biotechnology occupiers, named South Cambridge Science Centre.
Abstract said the first building at the Science Centre, a three-storey R&D development of 145,000 square feet with parking for 269 cars and 225 bicycles, will be completed and fully operational by early 2025. A subsequent phase comprising a 45,000-square-foot building is planned as part of a repositioning of the wider Dales Manor Estate into a life sciences campus.
SCSC, which received detailed planning consent in March 2023, is being developed on a brownfield site in Sawston, six miles from Cambridge city centre and close to Babraham Research Park, Granta Park and Unity Campus, an established cluster of South Cambridge life science, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and research occupiers.
Abstract said the new building will be Net Zero Carbon in operation, BREEAM Excellent and offer an EPC rating of A.
Mark Glatman, chief executive of Abstract, said in a statement: “Our very low land price means we can create top quality accommodation at a much lower rental than competing developments across the Cambridge market.
“South Cambridge Science Centre is in an established region of Cambridge where the availability of quality laboratories is extremely limited, whilst there is huge demand from fast growing companies in this sector. Tight land supply and a complex planning regime has contributed to this lack of supply and so we anticipate that delivering our speculative development to this market will be very well received."
Glatman says Abstract will create laboratory space suitable for a wide range of organisations by offering "maximum flexibility in a landscaped setting, and sitting alongside the proposed Cambridge South-East Transport route, which will eventually link the neighbouring science and research parks, Biomedical Campus and Cambridge City Centre".
“With current rents in this market pushing towards £70 per square feet, we will be delivering best in class space at a significant discount," Glatman said.
Christopher McPherson, development director of Abstract Securities, said: “To our knowledge, no other building in the Cambridge market has higher environmental standards than SCSC. Given the requirement for world-class yet affordable laboratory space in the area, we anticipate high demand for SCSC, which will be available for occupation in around 16 months in early 2025 and we are in early discussions with several organisations who recognise the need to move early to satisfy their growth ambitions."
Michael Laird is architect for the development and Bowmer & Kirkland is main contractor.
DTRE, Bidwells, and JLL are retained letting agents for the South Cambridge Science Centre.
Set up in April 2000 by Mark Glatman, the Abstract Group of companies specialises in commercial property development and venture capital financing. The management team at Abstract has developed in excess of 1.4 million square feet of new office buildings across the UK in the last seven years, with tenants including Babcock, KPMG, Aker Solutions, Virgin Atlantic, Pension Protection Fund, Zurich UK and Wood.