- The Crown Estate will invest £1.5m into Greater Cambridge Impact, a £10m investment vehicle focused on tackling inequality and ensuring more people benefit from the region’s growth.
- Investment announced alongside submission of £2bn (GDV) mixed-use redevelopment aims to deliver a vibrant, innovation-led destination for the emerging North East Cambridge Innovation District.
- Cambridge Business Park will strengthen Cambridge’s role in driving innovation and productivity, and contribute around £650m annually to the UK economy.
- Proposals set out up to 1.8 million sq ft of office, and research and development space, which could support over 8,000 jobs.
- New homes, public spaces and community infrastructure to create a connected, inclusive and green neighbourhood for existing and future communities.
The Crown Estate investing £1.5m into Greater Cambridge Impact
As part of its commitment to deliver local social impact in Cambridge, The Crown Estate is investing £1.5m into Greater Cambridge Impact (GCI), a £10m investment vehicle focused on tackling some of the region’s most pressing social and economic challenges. The Crown Estate’s investment reflects a shared commitment with GCI to turn economic success into shared prosperity and opportunities for the local community.
Over the next 10 years, GCI will deploy place-based capital into organisations addressing systemic inequality, focused on skills for young people, children in care and homelessness.
Plans to transform Cambridge Business Park submitted to JDMC
The Crown Estate’s investment into GCI sits alongside its plans to transform the Cambridge Business Park site into a new major science, innovation and community destination, helping to create a globally significant Innovation District in North East Cambridge, and joining up the recently submitted masterplan for Cambridge Science Park with the consented schemes at Cambridge North. The planning application, which has now been submitted to Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Joint Development and Management Committee (JDMC), is part of a long-term ambition to invest up to £1.5 billion in the UK’s science, innovation and technology sectors.
The proposals are expected to contribute around £650 million to the UK economy annually, reinforcing Cambridge’s role as a driver of national growth. This will help unlock a destination for science, innovation and technology – bringing together global businesses, new homes and high-quality public spaces in a new District Centre for North East Cambridge. Positioned within one of the UK’s most important innovation clusters, the development is designed to become a new epicentre for the area, supporting both national economic growth and the needs of the local Cambridge community.
The masterplan has been shaped by two years of engagement with local communities, businesses and stakeholders. This included three rounds of public consultation, workshops with local schools and ongoing input from the Ideas Exchange panel who have acted as an ongoing sounding board during the development of the proposals.
The submitted plans include proposals for:
- Up to 1.8 million sq ft of office and research and development space.
- Supporting over c. 8,000 jobs across a range of sectors, with an emphasis on roles in high-growth science and innovation sectors.
- A new neighbourhood with up to c. 500 new homes, including 40% affordable housing proposed and up to 200 co-living units, supporting a diverse housing offer that responds to local housing needs.
- Nearly 60,000 sq ft of new retail and leisure space including shops, restaurants, bars and cafes to create a lively, all-day destination.
- Supporting around £25 million in annual local expenditure.
- Generous green public spaces and a new main square, creating a more welcoming, accessible and ecologically rich place for people to enjoy.
- Enhanced connectivity, with new walking and cycling routes, multiple new access points, a new guided bus stop, and improved links between the Innovation District, Cambridge North Station and key clusters across Cambridge, Oxford and London.
- A highly sustainable, low-carbon design and resource efficiency, including targeting 55% reduction in water use relative to standard benchmarks for development of this scale – saving around 6 million litres annually.
Kristy Lansdown, Managing Director, Development at The Crown Estate, said:
“Cambridge plays a critical role in the UK’s innovation economy as one of the world’s leading innovation hubs, with Cambridge Business Park at its heart. Our masterplan proposal sets out a bold, long-term plan to support the city’s growth, while delivering market leading environmental and landscape proposals, as well as lasting and inclusive benefits for communities and the wider economy.
“Alongside the long-term transformation that the masterplan proposes, it’s crucial that we start to contribute today to the future of Cambridge. This is why we are committing £1.5 million to Greater Cambridge Impact, supporting impact investment for initiatives that benefit those in the city that need it the most.”
Daniel Mahony, Director at Studio Egret West said:
“The proposals seek to transform Cambridge Business Park into a flexible and future-facing mixed-use district centre for North East Cambridge.
By prioritising openness and connectivity, climate resilience, richness and variety of character, and an extensive range of new community amenities, the proposals respond to the evolving needs of occupiers and visitors alike, establishing a distinctive and well-connected place within Cambridge’s wider innovation ecosystem.
These principles are woven together in a new mixed-use neighbourhood with spatial diversity and an identity of innovation. A neighbourhood where discovery, creativity and learning are visible, accessible and integrated into everyday life.”
