Global life sciences real estate developer, owner and operator Breakthrough Properties is set to begin construction on Vitrum by Breakthrough, a life science building located inside the 21-acre St. John’s Innovation Park in Cambridge, England.
A joint venture of global developer Tishman Speyer and biotechnology investment firm Bellco Capital, Breakthrough is set to move forward on the project after securing a £104 mln (€121 mln) construction loan from BGO, as well as receiving planning permission/entitlements and approvals.
This was the first permission granted for a new commercial building in the North East Cambridge area since July 2022.
Breakthrough is transforming the 1.8-acre site into a flexible laboratory environment. Working with architectural studio Henning Larsen, Breakthrough has designed the five-story, 175,000-ft2 building for maximum flexibility and adaptability for a wide range of scientific uses. Site completion and grand opening is anticipated in 2026.
'With Vitrum by Breakthrough, we are creating a cutting-edge environment for biotechnology companies that rely on modern, flexible lab spaces to advance life-changing scientific discovery,' said Breakthrough Properties senior vice president for Acquisitions and Development Tom Renn.
BGO managing director Martin Sheridan added, 'This deal represents our first UK life science financing, and we expect to participate in more opportunities this year with our confidence in the sector remaining high.'
The building is designed to function free of fossil fuels, with all-electrical heating and cooling systems. As with all of its European projects, Breakthrough commits to target at least BREEAM Excellent certification, while striving to reach BREEAM Outstanding.
Founded in 2019, Breakthrough has approximately five million ft2 of projects in its global development pipeline. Vitrum By Breakthrough will be its third European project to break ground over the past year. Its other ongoing European projects include a new life science building on the campus of the Amsterdam University Medical Center, which has been fully pre-leased to Neogene Therapeutics which was recently acquired by AstraZeneca, and Trinity by Breakthrough, a 210,000-ft2 R&D building in Oxford.
