Mission Street tops out at Inventa

Topping out has taken place at one of Mission Street’s latest developments of new lab space in Oxford.

The specialist investor, developer and operator for the science and innovation sector held the ceremony at Inventa, a 65,000 sq ft scheme of innovation space which replaces two retail warehouses in Botley Road.

Mission Street, has formed a joint venture with BentallGreenOak (BGO) which is delivering more than 1.2 million sq ft of lab and office space in key strategic UK locations.

The July 27 topping out ceremony was attended by local stakeholders, partners and advisors, to celebrate the completion of the development’s new structure. It is due for practical completion in Q4 2023.

Inventa is the first commercial sciences scheme to be delivered as part of Oxford’s West End – an area which is set to undergo significant transformation to become Oxford’s prime central innovation district. In December, Mission Street submitted a planning application for phase two of the scheme, a 183,000 sq ft development known as Fabrica, which will be built on the site of the former DFS and Carpetright units.

In addition to the Mission Street developments, there is a further pipeline of more than a million sq ft of science-led space within the West End area including the Oxpens development, which is awaiting a planning decision.

Artem Korolev, founder and chief executive of Mission Street, said: “Mission Street continues to act as an enabler for the science and technology sectors by building the infrastructure that enables start-ups and scale-ups to grow and commercialise.

“By reaching the latest site milestone at Inventa, we are now a few months away from completing the scheme. We are proud to be delivering a scheme that genuinely provides benefits at a local level, whilst addressing the chronic undersupply of high-quality lab and office space that is much needed in the Oxford ecosystem.”

Image (top) l-r: Ivan Fluin from Willmot Dixon with Mission Street’s Colin Brown, director – development and Artem Korolev, founder and chief executive.