Aligns with new government’s commitment to public-private partnerships in Healthcare
London, United Kingdom, 3 November 2024, Leading property investor, owner and developer, Prologis, today announces a landmark investment in Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC), paralleling a commitment from the Chancellor to the life sciences sector in the Autumn Budget. Completing Phase 2 of the new development brings Prologis’ total investment in the Campus to $635m (£500m).
Once complete, 2000 Discovery Drive will contain six floors of specialist life sciences facilities, offering a mix of laboratory and office space across 115,000 sq. ft. The development, aimed at a range of scale-ups and research-led life sciences companies, will be part of the expanding world-class ecosystem at CBC, which brings together clinical, academic and commercial excellence.
The new facility forms part of a longstanding public-private partnership between Prologis, the landowner and CBC, which has so far seen the development and completion of 1000 Discovery Drive, with tenants including the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a leading European biotech firm.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said: “This investment from Prologis – just two days after this government’s first Budget - is a vote of confidence in our plan for the UK economy.
2000 Discovery Drive will be accompanied by extensive shared infrastructure works benefiting the Campus and the community, including a 450-space innovative semi-sunken CycleParc, multistorey car parking and an expanded public realm, through extensive cycle paths and landscape-led design. From summer 2025, the Campus will benefit from the opening, on site, of the new Cambridge South station.
Today, CBC generates a GVA of £4.2bn each year in the UK economy, a figure which will grow as the site expands further. A total of 4,167 skilled jobs are expected to be directly and indirectly supported by Prologis’ investment at CBC.
3000 Discovery Drive, a further speculative development that forms part of Phase 2 expansion, has also been granted planning consent, providing a further 100,000 sq. ft. of high quality life science development at CBC.
Science and Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle, said “Major investments like this from Prologis, bringing the sector’s largest global companies under one roof in Cambridge, is another vote of confidence in the UK’s approach to long-term growth.
The announcement from Prologis closely follows the government’s commitment in the recent Autumn Budget to support the public-private partnerships driving innovation at CBC and across the life sciences ‘Golden Triangle’ between Oxford, Cambridge and London.
Andrew Blevins, Head of Life Sciences at Prologis, said: “Our investments on Cambridge Biomedical Campus are substantive examples of public-private partnership, right in the heart of UK life sciences. We are committed to delivering spaces that create jobs, drive innovation and support growth for the local and national economy. With innovative developments like 2000 Discovery Drive, we are supporting the UK’s leadership in life science innovation.”
He continued, “Delivering modern, sustainable space for life sciences companies and their supply chains is a critical function of the Industrial & Logistics sector in the UK. It’s a sector Prologis has been investing in for over 25 years and which also includes the delivery of space, infrastructure and green energy solutions for data centres, manufacturing facilities and distribution centres, many of which have been highlighted as high growth sectors in the government’s new Industrial Strategy Green Paper.”
