Orchard Street Forward Funds Brookgate’s £80 Million Speculative Ofice Deal At CB1, Cambridge

Orchard Street Investment Management, the specialist commercial property investment manager, has agreed on behalf of clients to fund One The Square, Cambridge for £80m.  The 142,000 sq ft office and retail development being developed by Brookgate forms a significant part of the CB1 master plan, a comprehensive redevelopment of the area around Cambridge station.

One The Square, designed by architects Pringle Brandon Perkins+Will, will be the largest speculative office scheme in Cambridge, and one of the most significant outside of London.  It will deliver the largest Grade A office space in the city centre, with the ground floor comprising 13,000 sq ft of food and convenience shopping space.

Bidwells advised Brookgate on the deal.

Sven Topel, Chief Executive of Brookgate, said:

“We are please that Orchard Street recognises the quality of CB1, with the development providing excellent connectivity and continuing to attract investment into Cambridge.  One The Square represents the most significant speculative office scheme in Cambridge and will deliver the type of modern high quality office space that is in demand in the city.”

Chris Bartram, Chairman of Orchard Street Investment Management commented:

“We are delighted to be able to invest further in the city.  A number of our clients have already invested in Cambridge, with one acquiring the Microsoft Research Building on Station Road via Brookgate.

One The Square provides us with another good opportunity to acquire a high quality speculative development that is situated in a vibrant and growing local economy.”

The announcement comes just months after it was confirmed that Twenty Two Station Road, the 65,000 sq ft office development which is already more than 90% pre let to Mott Macdonald and regional law firm Birketts, would be developed with the benefit of £32 million worth of forward funding from a major UK pension fund.

Bidwells will now act on behalf of Brookgate to find a funding partner for the 231 bedroom hotel, the largest in Cambridge which was pre let to leading hotel operator Accor in November.  The development will also include restaurants and retail units fronting the Station Square, and the UK’s largest cycle park, consisting of 3,000 cycle parking spaces.

The CB1 master plan will provide 600,000 sq ft of office space, 630,000 sq ft of residential space and 1,000 student rooms, plus retail, restaurants and bars.  The project also provides a refurbished station concourse and new public square, new transport interchange, hotel and multi-storey cycle park.