Midlands firm completes sale of 35,000 sq ft building at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus
A former library building at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus has been acquired by the campus joint venture as part of an ambitious pipeline of development.
The pipeline of development includes tailored labs, advanced manufacturing, and grade A office space, designed to help combat the supply shortage of strategically located lab-enabled space.
The building has been acquired by The Harwell Science and Innovation Campus joint venture, which is 50 per cent UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and 50 per cent Brookfield Asset Management.
The Library has been sold by Midlands-based developer/investor Deeley Group, which acquired the 2.2 acre site and a 35,000 sq ft building in 2004 from the UKAEA, however the authority retained the freehold of the site.
Since acquiring the property, Deeley Group has invested £4.5 million to transform the 1950s library into high-quality offices which it has retained in its investment portfolio.
Deeley Group subsequently went on to develop more offices and business units, Lumen House and The Terrace on land adjacent to The Library.
Eleanor Deeley, Joint Managing Director of the Deeley Group, said: “This is a great deal for the Deeley Group, the UKAEA, STFC and Brookfield. This brings to a close our near two decade commitment to furthering the development of Harwell.
“With less than two years remaining on the occupational lease we were considering our next steps with the property and our landlords were keen to reacquire The Library from us.
“As a group, we are proud of the work we have done since 2004 to develop land at Harwell and transform The Library from a building in danger of demolition, into modern, high-quality office space.”
Stuart Grant, Chief Executive at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, added: “At Harwell we have one of the most ambitious campus investment plans in the world, and we’re delighted to have brought The Library building into the portfolio.
“Acquiring The Library building will help us to further realise our vision, developing science-ready, research and development space for organisations at the forefront of scientific research.”
Located in the UK’s Golden Triangle, Harwell Campus is one of seven dedicated Life Science Opportunity Zones around the country. The campus’ health tech cluster has trebled in size over the last five years, creating more than 700 new jobs and in June this year, the government committed a further £81.5 million of funding, to improve Europe’s largest collection of open access scientific facilities at Harwell, keeping Diamond Light Source and at the cutting-edge of what is scientifically possible.
