The £180m Mill Yard project, formerly known as Devonshire Gardens, is being developed by Railpen, manager of the £34bn railways pension scheme in the UK, together with London-based developer Socius.
The site was rebranded in 2024 to Mill Yard, reflecting its position on Mill Road, near the city centre. Mill Yard comprises 110,000 sq ft of office space, 70 build-to-rent apartments, a series of residential former railway cottages, a 2,100 sq ft crèche, a community events pavilion and a cluster of retail units across seven buildings set around a 1.5-acre public park.
Railpen awarded Morgan Sindall a £77m contract for the job nearly a year ago. [See previous report here.]
The completed buildings will be all electric, using a combination of on- and off-site renewable energy sources, and there will be no fossil fuels used on site, the developers says.
Morgan Sindall has committed to employing 12 local homeless people on the project.
Jamie Shearman, area director for Morgan Sindall Construction in Cambridgeshire, said: “The scale of change that Mill Yard promises to bring to Cambridge is truly remarkable and we’re incredibly proud to be working alongside Railpen and Socius on the development. As a local team, we know that Cambridge is a truly one-of-a-kind city, but it’s through regeneration projects like this that each community will really be able to fulfil their true potential.
“Not only will Mill Yard turn an unsightly industrial area into a green and modern environment, but it will do so while delivering much needed investment, housing and community facilities while also giving the local wildlife a valuable boost. With sustainability at the core of this brownfield regeneration, Mill Yard is also setting an incredibly high bar for minimising emissions over the lifetime of a development.”
Socius development director Doug Higgins said: “Mill Yard brings something very different to Cambridge, combining the best attributes of business parks with the accessibility and vibrancy of a city centre location. It will play a key role in addressing the pent-up demand for high-quality space among SMEs in the city, and will boast an impressive public realm with sustainability at its core.”
Mill Yard is one of two projects that Socius and Railpen are developing together in Cambridge currently. Botanic Place is a 500,000 sq ft headquarters office development being built by Skanska under a £200m contract.
Railpen senior asset and development manager Richard Van Lente said: “Mill Yard is the first stage in realising our significant commitment to Cambridge, supporting the government’s growth agenda while delivering secure long-term returns for our members. It will form part of an ecosystem of highly sustainable, innovative and complementary developments that will help the city, its businesses and communities thrive.”
