‘Modern Guilds’
Fast forward to the present day, and what we see emerging is the modern equivalent of the guild. The science community has best exemplified this, with science parks in Oxford and Cambridge adopting ‘Gateway Policies’ to screen occupiers, selecting those that will be the best fit, in their pursuit of ecosystem building. The argument is simple: curate the right occupier mix and you create a destination whose value is greater than the sum of its individual buildings.
In science and innovation districts, developers increasingly seek to create the conditions described by the “Triple Helix” model, where academia, industry and government interact to accelerate innovation. At a real estate level, this means providing space for organisations at every stage of growth, alongside event venues, collaboration spaces and amenities.
However, while this model works in markets where rents can support the investment, development viability remains the obstacle facing many new schemes. This raises the question, or opportunity, as to whether the ecosystem is more valuable than amenity, with less focus given to spec’ing a building over and above what is expected. Occupiers can invest in their own space, while leveraging the benefits of the wider ecosystem. In effect, developers may not need to win the specification race if they can create environments that deliver access to talent, ideas, customers and capital. But this is a brave approach and in a market where the amenity competition is still alive and kicking, it may not be a mainstream strategy.
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