Legal & General have announced its plans to partner with Newcastle City Council and Newcastle University, to help build and finance the £350m (€439.9m) Newcastle Science Central development.
Science Central will become a major UK hub for scientific research, and technology businesses. The North-East’s new devolution deal creates the opportunity to bring this powerful local vision to life, creating knowledge-based jobs for future generations in Newcastle and extending the Northern Powerhouse to “the North of the North”.
Newcastle Science Central is one of the biggest urban regeneration projects of its kind in the UK. The 24-acre science and technology hub on the former brewery site, famed for brewing Newcastle Brown Ale, is located in Newcastle’s city centre and is set to create over 4,000 jobs, 500,000ft² (46,450m²) of office space, and 450 new homes. Legal & General’s initial £65m (€81.7m) investment will deliver over 200,000ft² (18,580m²) of Grade A office space, facilitating significant economic growth in the city, and unlocking further investment in commercial and residential opportunities at Science Central.
Gordon Aitchison, director, investment & development at LGIM Real Assets, said: “This partnership with Newcastle City Council and Newcastle University proves the importance of the private and public sector partnerships model in driving forward UK urban regeneration projects. We have been able to provide the necessary capital and skills to bring forward Newcastle Science Central and local government have provided the access and support to create this opportunity. We look forward to working with our new partners on this exciting scheme and attracting further investment into the area.”
Legal & General plans to invest £15bn (€18.9bn) in UK infrastructure, direct investments and urban regeneration projects. It has already invested over £7bn (€8.8bn).
Professor Chris Brink, Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University, said: “Today’s announcement by Legal & General is a reflection of what has been achieved so far and testament to the potential of Science Central as an exemplar of sustainable urban development.
“Building on our recent outstanding research successes, with the announcement of our three National centres – the National Centre for Ageing Science and Innovation, the National Institute for Smart Data Innovation (NISDI) and the EPSRC National Centre for Energy Systems Integration – this investment will take us a step closer to realising our vision for Science Central.”
The deal represents the fourth project to be delivered since the start of Legal & General’s partnership with the Regeneration Investment Organisation (RIO), launched at 10 Downing Street in January 2015. Bringing with it an extensive network of international investor contacts and deep property expertise, Legal & General is committed to co-invest £1.5bn (€1.9bn) into RIO pipeline projects alongside capital from other institutions and major overseas investors and is working with the government’s inward investment body, UKTI, to attract an additional £15bn (€18.9bn) of investment into critical regeneration projects that support UK growth.
Newcastle Science Central is located in the city’s Accelerated Development Zone, next to Newcastle United’s football ground, St James’s Park, and to the north of Newcastle train station.
