Secretary of State approves Railpen’s one million sq ft Beehive plans

Railpen’s plans will transform Beehive into a world-class innovation park including workspaces for technology businesses, laboratories for research, a substantial new community park, a youth and community hub, science centre plus around 20 new shops, restaurants and cafés.

Major public transport upgrades are a central part of the plans and are slated to remove more than 10,000 cars from local roads. The development has also been conceived by Railpen to deliver significant positive social, economic and sustainable impacts, factors recognised by the Local Planning Authority through the application process. These include:

• Up to £482 million of social and economic value according to independent assessors, Social Value Portal

• A significant uplift in employment, rising from 855 FTE roles on the existing Beehive retail park to 6,500, of which over 2,000 will be entry to mid-level roles, supported by a careers academy

• An estimated £600 million in additional Gross Value Added annually in economic output supported by the new workforce, a further significant uplift on £55 million generated annually by the retail park currently. This would bring total annual GVA supported by the site to approximately £655 million.

• £180m-£240 million estimated in annual tax revenues

• £11.4 million in business rates, an increase of £8.5 million on the current site.

The consent will also facilitate Railpen’s plans to upgrade the neighbouring Cambridge Retail Park, where an improvements programme has been developed that will bring significant benefits to retailers and the local community, including the relocation of key retailers from the Beehive Centre.

The first phase has recently been completed with the creation of a new Starbucks in a unique landscaped setting.

The Beehive is part of Railpen’s Innovation Cluster in the city, a portfolio of 11 assets totalling 1.9 million sq ft of space, strategically located, and conceived to address current and emerging occupier requirements.

Other assets in the cluster include the recently consented 230 Newmarket Road, Railpen’s proposed 112,000 sq ft Grade A office building, Mill Yard, its 180,000 sq ft mixed-use campus that completes in Q1 2027, and Botanic Place, its 325,000 sq ft global standard head quarters development that completes in Q1 2028.