Abingdon: Milton Park's £24m Park Drive development reaches key milestone

Construction work at the £24 million Park Drive East development at Milton Park, which is being undertaken by MEPC, has reached the half-way milestone, with work on track and progressing on time for the completion of one of the region’s largest speculative office and laboratory schemes.

The development, which comprises three buildings (141, 142 and 143 Park Drive), includes a Grade A office building and two hi-tech laboratory facilities. Construction began in February 2017, which was marked by a ground-breaking ceremony; the office building is due to complete in December, with the two laboratory buildings following closely in early 2018.

This milestone follows last month’s announcement that MEPC signed a pre-let agreement with existing occupier Oxford Immunotec Global plc, a global NASDAQ-listed, high-growth diagnostics company. Oxford Immunotec is taking the entirety of 143 Park Drive to accommodate its continued growth in a new, 27,000 sq ft headquarters.

Park Drive East is being developed to meet strong demand for best-in-class, strategically located premises at the heart of the Oxfordshire science cluster. Designed with optimum flexibility in mind, the buildings will satisfy the requirements of innovative businesses, including science and technology companies embarking on R&D activities. Occupiers taking space within the development benefit from its position within the Science Vale UK Enterprise Zone, which allows businesses to apply for business rate discounts of up to £275,000.

Philip Campbell, commercial director for Milton Park at MEPC, said: “This is an important milestone in the life-cycle of Milton Park. The Park Drive East scheme is well on track for completion at the turn of the year, bringing new stock of high-quality office and laboratory space to the market, helping to drive economic growth in the region.

“We are delighted that 143 Park Drive has already been let to accommodate Oxford Immunotec’s expansion and look forward to providing other occupiers at the park with an opportunity to maximise their growth plans, as well as welcoming new companies to the park’s community.

“We have had a good level of interest in this scheme to date and would urge any interested parties to get in touch as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.”

Buckingham Group is the main contractor for the development.

Knight Frank and VSL & Partners are the letting agents for the scheme.