Camel Projects Ltd
10 St. Edwards Passage, Cambridge, CB2 3PJ
Having been in the industry since 1987 Simon Jones, founder owner of Camel Projects, is an expert when it comes to property investment. A consultant in London for many years, in 2005 he decided it was time to strike out on his own. Cambridge beckoned. Apart from the fact that it’s a great place for a family to live, Cambridge, says Simon, is where it’s at if you’re looking for robust commercial property investment opportunities, for this is where the knowledge-based industries of the future are.
Simon started Camel Projects in 2015 and the first property the new company bought was Chesterton Mill, a Grade II-listed windmill with workshops and buildings in north Cambridge (and the place that gave Simon his new company’s name: Cam Mill …). Although Camel Projects is a property investor, not developer, Simon enjoys giving the properties he buys the TLC they need to make them more appealing to occupiers. Hope Street Yard, his latest project (home to Indie Cambridge by the way), is, like Chesterton Mill (his first project), a great example of how the company transforms tired and inefficient old buildings into a desirable collection of sustainable, self-contained, light-filled workspaces.
That’s another thing that’s important to Simon, investing in projects that have an element of social good in what they’re trying to achieve, through the sustainable materials used (HSY has an enviable best-in-class EPC rating of A+) and with some sort of affordable element included. This is all part of Camel’s vision for the future – how to repurpose real estate to suit contemporary living and working. For example, Simon sees a great opportunity in the concept of low-cost, communal living for young first-jobbers, perhaps living in Cambridge for the first time. Why not offer an affordable space with shared facilities – a gym, a cinema – and, importantly, the chance to meet other people in the same situation? Sounds great, doesn’t it?