Creating a collaborative environment fit for Milton Keynes Innovation and tech community.
Milton Keynes was high on Socius' city hit list. With a new digital skills university, MK:U, on the way and banking giant Santander’s £150m HQ under construction, they had their eye on a nearby site.
We helped Socius get under the skin of the digital city before they embarked on their bid for the Saxon Court site. Our advice on the type of tech occupiers they would attract fed into their architect’s masterplan and shaped their vision of a key hub for the city’s digital economy.
Just as importantly, we crunched the numbers. Our insight into MK office rents and residential values, plus our detailed market comparisons, forecasts and viability assessments, helped form the backbone of Socius' successful bid for the site.
Our team’s planning knowledge, experience and existing working relationship with MKC planning officers placed us in exceptional stead to advise on this proposal.
From the start, innovation, sustainability and architecture were at the heart of the proposal, with MK Gateway being designed by world renowned architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. We led a series of pre-application meetings where details of the scheme were refined, and we participated in public consultation events where local politicians, businesses and members of the public were able to engage with proposals.
Our team worked with the architects and other consultants to ensure the scheme was compliant with relevant policy and helped to develop strategies for areas of the scheme which pushed the boundaries of what many professionals thought was possible to achieve in planning terms in CMK - it is the first scheme to propose no on-plot parking and includes the tallest building in Milton Keynes.
Additionally, we project managed the full planning application process, as well as non-material amendment submissions and the discharge of planning conditions, and were involved in the preparation of supporting documentation including a detailed Planning Statement, Policy Compliance Statement and Town and Visual Impact Assessment.
During the consultation period, we liaised with the case officer to ensure that consultee comments were addressed and that there were no outstanding technical objections. We went above and beyond to ensure that the application would be considered at the earliest Development Control Committee.
The ink is now dry on the £13m deal to buy Saxon Court and we are working hand-in-glove with Socius to curate the right mix of tenants and bring forward a planning application for this new £190m gateway to Milton Keynes’ booming science and tech sector.