Bidwells launches mixed-use development consultancy team
Bidwells has created a new mixed-use development consultancy team, focused on science and innovation districts in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.
Led by the consultancy’s senior partner Patrick McMahon (pictured), the team will draw on talent from across the firm as well as hire new professionals to lead on projects McMahon describes as “fascinating, really complicated and enormously fun”.
“There’s a lot of pent-up demand for new space in the region, and we have to produce this. We have to get the planners and local communities to accept it. There’s such a lot of demand, but so little expertise in that area,” McMahon said.
Bidwells has created a new mixed-use development consultancy team, focused on science and innovation districts in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.
Led by the consultancy’s senior partner Patrick McMahon (pictured), the team will draw on talent from across the firm as well as hire new professionals to lead on projects McMahon describes as “fascinating, really complicated and enormously fun”.
“There’s a lot of pent-up demand for new space in the region, and we have to produce this. We have to get the planners and local communities to accept it. There’s such a lot of demand, but so little expertise in that area,” McMahon said.
“Developers and landowners want a team of people who can coordinate all the specialists. For them to coordinate the labs guys, hotels guys and, to an extent, architects, is slightly overwhelming.”
Bidwells tracked investment of £2.4bn in the arc last year, a regional record. That figure included £575m of international investment in Cambridge.
McMahon points to the potential of mixed-use projects such as Brookgate’s 1.6m sq ft CB1 development close to Cambridge train station.
“It’s attracted three of the four trillion-dollar companies in the world – we’re about to PC for Apple, Amazon has a major AI and R&D centre, and Microsoft are there. Why? Because the computer science department at Cambridge University is absolutely at the top of its game, and they want those people. How do you attract them, get them to stay in Cambridge once they’ve graduated? How do you make something that feels really special where they’ll stay and further their careers?”
The Bidwells team is also advising FirstBase on its 210,000 sq ft MK Gateway development, and Oxford City Council and Nuffield College on innovation district plans for the city centre.
McMahon is making new hires to add to the team. “We’ve built a team that can coordinate and align and enthuse,” he said. “It’s all about people and connecting, setting the stage for collaboration.”
The right talent won’t always come from the real estate industry, he added. “The property industry has definitely got a big part to play. But what I really need are people with the imagination to create these places and think about how they lock together – how these new developments are going to work with people living and working in the same place. That’s not just a property industry thing, it’s about understanding how to knit things together and create communities for the future.”
• Tune in on Wednesday for EG and Bidwells’ Vision for the Arc event – registration can be found here.
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Image courtesy of PR
