Railpen to turn Oxford business park into life sciences hub
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Railpen has been given the green light by Oxford City Council to redevelop Eastpoint Business Park in the city to create a 200,000 sq ft life sciences campus.
The manager of the £34bn Railways Pension Scheme bought the business park in 2023 as its first entry into the Oxford life sciences market. Railpen said it is creating an “innovation cluster” by investing in laboratory, office and mixed-use assets in the Oxford and Cambridge areas. In addition to Eastpoint, they include Devonshire Gardens and Botanic Place in Cambridge.
The latest acquisition sits two miles south-east of Oxford's centre, and is near Oxford Business Park and Oxford Science Park. The planned life sciences park will have 55% CL2 laboratories and 45% offices and include “a significantly enhanced public realm, prioritisation of pedestrian movement, active ground floors and high-quality public amenities”, according to Railpen.
The public aspects include educational outreach, including a ‘Learning Lab’ for local students, as well as a café, “social hub” and green space.
Railpen said the latest intelligent building technologies, renewable energy and biodiverse balconies and roofscapes will reduce embodied carbon and enhance biodiversity in the development.
“There is strong demand for state-of-the-art laboratories in Oxford, which our plans for Eastpoint will help to address. More than that, however, they will make a significant contribution to the STEM sector in the city, facilitating meaningful interaction between research, commerce, education and the community,” said Senior asset manager Richard Van Lente.
“We believe this approach will further increase the appeal of the space among leading national and international research companies, which in turn will deliver enhanced long-term returns for our members and a lasting legacy for Oxford.”
