Latest Sci-Tech Daresbury expansion already three quarters full
Work has finished on the next stage of development at Sci-Tech Daresbury, with three quarters of space at Project Violet already let.
Lead contractor Willmott Dixon handed over the £17.8m development, which comprises 43,000 sq ft of speculative Grade A office and innovation space, aimed at science and technology-focused businesses.
Violet comprises two buildings, V2 and V3, providing 12,000 sq ft each, and one building, V1, of 19,000 sq ft.
Talks are under way with a number of local and international companies about their occupancy of the Violet buildings and it is estimated that three quarters of space will be let.
Project Violet is expected to create or support 332 full time equivalent jobs and is supported by £8.4m cornerstone funding from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, comprising a £2.5m loan from the Urban Development Fund, together with £5.9m from the Combined Authority’s Chrysalis Fund, both funds being managed or advised by igloo Investment Management.
In December, planning approval was granted by Halton Borough Council for Ultraviolet, which is located next to Project Violet and forms the next phase of development within Sci-Tech Daresbury.
This development will provide a further 180,000 sq ft of Grade A office and laboratory space.
The Sci-Tech Daresbury community currently numbers 150 science and technology companies, including the likes of IBM and Hitachi. More than 30 new tenants joined during 2021.
John Downes, chief executive of Langtree and chairman of Sci-Tech Daresbury, said: “Project Violet reaching completion is yet another moment of real excitement at a time when our campus is truly going from strength to strength.
“Our ambitious plans for propelling science and technology forward in our region though investing in quality laboratory and office space have already been vindicated by the strong interest in Violet, and we look forward to sharing details of our first tenants in the coming weeks.”
He added: “Contracts were signed for the build programme of Project Violet in the summer of 2020, when the first few months of the pandemic had led many to believe that high quality office and laboratory space would no longer be in demand in the years to come. This was not a view we shared, and the strong demand we’re experiencing for Violet vindicates that our unwavering faith in cutting edge businesses in the North West has been more than vindicated.”
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “Sci-Tech Daresbury is a thriving hub for science and technology in our region, playing host to many of the cutting edge, innovative businesses that will help us to build a greener, smart and better connected Liverpool City Region.
“We are only scratching the surface of our region’s potential to be at the vanguard of science and innovation in the UK. This latest expansion of the Sci-Tech Daresbury campus means that we can continue to attract world leading businesses to our region, delivering hundreds of high quality, high value jobs that fuel our ambitions to be global innovators.”
Designed by Seven Architecture, the new complex is situated at the gateway of the campus next to Keckwick Lane and Innovation Way.
