Aviva Investors has joined forces with Canada's pension fund investor PSP Investments to finance a brand new office building at 20 Station Road in Cambridge.
Aviva Investors and PSP Investments are jointly funding the 65,000 sq ft (6,040 m2) development, which has been fully pre-let to a flexible workspace provider. The building, which is being developed by Brookgate, will offer six storeys of high-specification office space, including open desks, private offices, meeting rooms, wellness areas, event space and roof terraces. It has been designed by architecture and design firm tp bennett, with construction expected to be completed in 2023.
20 Station Road adds to the existing portfolio of ground-up and standing assets that Aviva Investors and PSP Investments have acquired in Cambridge, with both firms viewing the city as a particularly attractive market. In November 2019, the partnership announced an agreement to invest up to £250 mln in commercial property across the CB1 Estate, a master-planned development spanning 26 acres.
Stéphane Jalbert, managing director, Europe and Asia Pacific, Real Estate Investments, PSP Investments, said: 'The continuation of our partnership with Aviva Investors in Cambridge reflects our confidence in the city’s long-term performance potential as a centre of innovation. Cambridge’s world leading education and research institutions act as a hub and anchor for the artificial intelligence and life science disciplines, making the region a key knowledge cluster driving future performance.'
Melanie Collett, head of real estate asset management at Aviva Investors, said: 'With the nature of the office market changing, we are seeing a flight to quality assets in areas rich with knowledge capital. Demand for office space remains elevated in locations such as Cambridge given its strong location. Not only is the city a significant knowledge hub and a leading centre of research in technology, biotechnology and life sciences, but its world-leading universities means it can offer a wealth of future talent to those industries. We see these as being critical characteristics in determining successful cities of the future.'
