Discover Offices on Flexible Leases in Cambridge
If the city is to keep a hold of its reputation as being a centre for science, technology and business, new office space will need to be built, those in the real estate industry have claimed.
Dick Wise, Head of Business Space at Cambridge Science Park told CambridgeFirst: “Compared with what appears to be happening in other economic markets, Cambridge is performing extremely well.
“We have seen well above average take-up this year [at the science park] which is going to lead to an acute office space shortage post-2011.
“I do think there will be a commercial pressure point and shortage of space available. The dangerous thing is Cambridge companies are global and there is a chance they will consider other space around the world.”
Cambridge Science Park, which was established in 1970, cannot be expanded according to Mr Wise. However the facility could be refurbished and redesigned inside the already existing buildings, he added.
Currently, the rent for offices around Cambridge’s main station runs at an average of GBP 30.40 per square foot. The area is popular with accountants and solicitors, but the rising cost of rent is proving prohibitive for many.
While there are many areas surrounding Cambridge, such as Fulbourne, Cambourne, and Great Abingdon, that provide office space, many have said there is a need for more space nearer the city of Cambridge itself.
Will Mooney, a partner at Carter Jonas and responsible for marketing Cambridge Business Park, addressed the high rents: “This has set a new precedent for Cambridge.
“It is an area that’s quite small and there’s only so much you can develop, so there is more demand than supply – meaning rents can be set high.
“And the occupants in these areas don’t want to be in any other area of the city.”
Editor’s notes: In Q4 2022, take-up in Cambridge hit 185,564 square feet. 151,00 square feet of this was office space and approximately 15,000 square feet was laboratory space.
This was an increase of over 120,000 square feet in Q3, however, was lower than in 2021.
In 2022, take-up for office and laboratory space dropped by nearly 35 per cent compared to 2021.
Levels of supply in Q1 2023 were described as critical as the vacancy rate for laboratory space was just 0.6 per cent and for office space, 8.7 per cent.
Due to strong demand and limited supply, rents for prime Cambridge city centre office space were expected to reach GBP 60 per square foot and the same for fitted labs on the well-established science parks such as Cambridge Science Park.