Sciontec Developments, the commercial, spin-out property development company of KQ Liverpool, has announced it will be taking ownership Sensor City. The Liverpool-based hub for the development of sensor and IoT technologies will be joining the growing Sciontec group of innovation facilities, which already includes Liverpool Science Park.
Sensor City, which is located on Copperas Hill in the Knowledge Quarter Liverpool Innovation District (KQ Liverpool), first opened in 2017 and was later closed during the national lockdown in December 2020. Although closed to the public, the building has played an important role as a vaccination centre for students and as part of a European Research programme.
Sciontec has been working with Sensor City’s current owners, Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Liverpool, and key grant funders, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities to obtain the consents it needs and finalise a deal to transfer the ownership of the Sensor City company to Sciontec.
“We are looking forward to finalising the details with Sciontec for the new investment in the building, which will enable us to drive forward research and business growth in the technology sector,” said Professor Keith George, chair of Sensor City Liverpool and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at Liverpool John Moores University.
Upon completion of the deal, Sciontec’s shareholders, Liverpool John Moores University, the University of Liverpool, Liverpool City Council and Bruntwood SciTech, plan to invest in excess of £2 million to upgrade, modernise and relaunch Sensor City as a global hub for innovation, technology, digitalisation and the internet of things, building on its existing commitment to sensor technologies.
This will include submitting planning proposals by the end of the year for the redevelopment and reconfiguration of Sensor City to provide additional innovative workspace and labs across its four floors.
“This landmark deal with our University partners will mark an exciting transformation in the life of Sensor City. We are really looking forward to operating Sensor City alongside the successful Liverpool Science Park and further helping to create high value jobs and grow the City Region economy, through science and technology, health and wellbeing,” added Colin Sinclair, chief executive of KQ Liverpool and Sciontec.
Sciontec completed a similar process in taking ownership of Liverpool Science Park in 2020, which saw occupancy levels improve significantly and increased retained profits over the last two years, with the three Science Park buildings operating at full capacity and over £1 million recently invested in the new entrance and other enhanced customer facilities.
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