Oxford city councillors approved Larry Ellison’s further plans for the science park off Grenoble Road in Littlemore as M5 Closures dominated local concerns. The decision adds another step to his widening footprint across Oxford and Oxfordshire.
The science park is part of the Ellison Institute Oxford project, where the Ellison Institute of Technology is being built on the same site. Separately, the Ellison Institute has joined Oxford University in a strategic alliance worth hundreds of millions of pounds, extending the scale of the work linked to Ellison in Oxford.
Grenoble Road in Littlemore
The approval keeps the Grenoble Road project moving while Ellison’s other holdings in Oxford remain in play. He is also transforming the 19th-century chapel in Armstrong Road at the former Littlemore Hospital site into a high-end restaurant, and he bought the Eagle and Child in St Giles' in October 2023 for about £8m.
The pub is expected to open in 2027, placing another Ellison-linked site on a longer timetable than the science park decision. He has also bought a lot of land near Kingston Bagpuize with the aim of creating his own luxury compound.
Alfie Davis on Oxford
Alfie Davis said, “Billionaires tightening their grip on Oxford, controlling more of our lives is of concern to all of us as our city is increasingly bought up by an elite few.” His criticism landed while councillors approved the expansion, setting the decision against a dispute over how much of Oxford is passing into private hands.
Ellison’s links also reach beyond Oxford’s property market. He has reportedly holidayed with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his private Hawaiian island, and he is the single largest donor of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces.
Oxford and Oxfordshire
For residents, the immediate change is that councillors have now backed further development on Grenoble Road in Littlemore, adding momentum to a programme that already includes the former hospital site, the pub in St Giles', and land near Kingston Bagpuize. The approval widens the gap between the pace of Ellison’s projects and the slower public debate around who controls Oxford’s built environment.
