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Railpen, the investment manager for the £35 billion railways pension scheme, is bringing forward the development of Botanic Place, a major new office scheme on Hills Road, Cambridge.

Botanic Place, which is adjacent to Cambridge Botanic Gardens, comprises an existing office building, Botanic House, the historic Flying Pig pub building, and an adjacent site with planning consent for a new £500m, 500,000 sq ft workspace scheme, designed by architects AHMM. The vision for the office scheme is that it will become the most sustainable and intelligent workspace in Cambridge.

Within its plans, Railpen is committed to preserving and upgrading the building that housed the once popular Flying Pig, which closed in early 2022, with the ambition of creating a vibrant new music venue for the community.

Railpen has appointed Socius to deliver the scheme and as such, Socius has commenced community and stakeholder engagement with local residents, businesses and community groups and Cambridge City Council, and construction is expected to commence in autumn 2023.

Botanic Place will be the second collaboration between Socius and Railpen, with work due to start in 2023 on Devonshire Gardens, a £160m mixed use development with workspace, homes and a new public park close to Cambridge rail station.

Railpen has appointed JLL and Bidwells as commercial agents for Botanic Place.