Size 371 acres Construction cost £1bn Key worker housing 1,500 homes (61 acres) Student accommodation 2,000 units (538,000 sq ft) Private housing 1,500 homes R&D space (total) 1.1m sq ft R&D space (university departments) At least 646,000 sq ft R&D space (university partners) Up to 430,600 sq ft Construction timescale 2013-2033
plots of land for private residential use. Since last August, the university has been working up detailed planning applications for the initial build and the first of these is expected to be submitted this spring, with further applications following between June and the end of the year. Developers are likely to be chosen within the next two months. Taylor suggests that the university will
evaluate the returns from the first phase before committing to future building. The residential element, he says, is likely to be built out in around five phases over 10 years. The commercial space will appear over a longer timescale and none is likely to even start on the North West site until
towards the end of this decade. That will disappoint local agents who
had hoped that the consented 1m sq ft of R&D space might include some business park space available to the open market. Taylor is unequivocal: “That land will
only be for academic facilities, scientific institutes, or companies with a research relationship with the university.” Ironically, one of those companies, Microsoft, last year announced it was moving from the adjacent 70-acre West Cambridge site to commercial development CB1 near the city centre. “West Cambridge hasn’t been a great
success because of the piecemeal way it was developed,” says a Cambridge commercial agent who prefers not to be named. The university’s strategy is now to fill the remainder of that site before it will consider building R&D space on the North West development, something Taylor estimates will take around another five years. Taylor is keen to clarify the university’s
approach to the North West scheme: “Everything we are doing is on the basis of being de-risked. We are not taking any development risk at all. So, we are absolutely not engaging in any speculative development – we are providing solely for the needs of the university.”
SEE ALSO THE FOCUS BLOG: £1BN NW CAMBRIDGE UNLIKELY TO GENERATE CASH FOR AGENTS
THE MAN BEHIND THE PLAN PROJECT DIRECTOR ROGER TAYLOR
The University of Cambridge appears to have inverted the adage of “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”, when selecting a candidate to mastermind the North West Cambridge development. Project director Roger Taylor stresses that he is not a Cambridge graduate and says he had no links to the establishment or even the city before his appointment in 2008. “I first came here, like everyone else, as a tourist,” he adds. Unlike most tourists though, the
qualified chartered surveyor has a solid understanding of large-scale property development, having spent his entire working life in the industry, including 15 years as a director at Taylor Wimpey, formerly Taylor Woodrow, where he headed the investment/development arm responsible for the company’s £1bn London portfolio. Before that he enjoyed a stint as managing director of construction firm Costain. All very different to his role at the
university, where he oversees a small team, but, he insists, no less enjoyable. Nevertheless, with retirement on the medium-term horizon, he has given thought to who will take over the reins in Cambridge, though no succession plan is yet in place.