A London shopping precinct, named as “Britain’s worst shopping district” by the BBC, is being redeveloped in order to encourage local consumers to spend within the area. Although Leegate Shopping Centre in Lee, enjoyed popularity when it first opened in the 1960s, the recent recession and resulting change in consumer shopping... Read More
The U.S. Bank Plaza in Minneapolis has received LEED Gold certification. Real Estate firm Hines made the announcement about the designation received from the U.S. Green Building Council under the Existing Buildings Rating System. The Class A office towers are located in the heart of the city's Central Business District, and were... Read More
Wirral Council and Neptune Developments have revealed outline plans for the regeneration of Birkenhead town centre. The first stage of the project, subject to a public consultation, will see the current Europa Pools leisure development demolished and replaced with a restaurants complex. Neptune hopes this will prove attractive for a... Read More
An Irish property developer is lining up his re-entry into the office construction market after nearly €400m (£320m) of his personal debts were transferred to the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) during the financial crisis. Johnny Ronan has confirmed he wants to buy a key Dublin site — beside the city’s former Burlington... Read More
UBS AG, the biggest bank in Switzerland, has plans for expanding its Chinese property investment business into the commercial property market. Investor demand is increasing in the office, retail, and industrial sectors, and the supply of assets is growing at about 35 per cent each year. A number of Chinese cities are expected to... Read More
As airports in London continue to struggle with an ever-increasing influx of flights and passengers, the UK is beginning to rely more heavily on regional airports to boost the country’s capacity. This has seen Birmingham Airport see record numbers of passengers passing through its terminal building for two months in a row, indicating that... Read More
If you were to ask New York commercial real estate executives what they think about prices in the Big Apple, more of them are likely to say that property is overvalued in comparison with other major urban centres around the world. Many of them believe that there is an asset bubble, due to low interest rates. These are among the... Read More
Communist or former communist states are proving the hungriest when it comes to developing western-style shopping malls — with China leading the pack with almost 19 million sq ft of retail space under construction. According to the international real estate company CBRE there is now 39 million sq ft of new commercial shopping centres... Read More
London’s West End has retained its position as the most expensive location in the world to rent office space. According to the latest research from CBRE, total occupancy costs – which include rents, business rates and service charges - now stand at over £160 per sq ft. Hong Kong, which the West End supplanted as the costliest... Read More
Scottish businessman Iain Mercer has blamed the “banking sector” for the forced administration of his property and development company. He took over the Almondale Group, which has a portfolio of retail, office, industrial and research and development premises across Scotland, in 2006 after the death of his father, former Heart of... Read More
Wandsworth councillors have this week given the green-light to plans to demolish Christies Fine Art Warehouse in Nine Elms. The storage facility will be replaced by a mixed use development as part of the ongoing regeneration of the former industrial district. The warehouse stands on a 2.7 acre site close to the new US Embassy and... Read More
Maidstone councillors have refused to grant planning permission for an out of town shopping centre located in Newnham Court. The plans, submitted by Land Securities, would have seen the area receive an £85 million investment, with the proposed centre including Waitrose and Debenhams as its tenants. In addition, the centre would have... Read More
A North-East property investor has filled all but three units of an ailing Middlesbrough industrial park— just two weeks after acquiring it from a Scottish fund manager. Until now Geoff Hogg’s Teesside-based JR Property Developments has concentrated on retail investment and residential sites. It was when he spotted Brighouse... Read More
The Shard is among 56 buildings recognised as ‘exceptional’ by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in its annual awards revealed today. The London Bridge Quarter tower now joins the long-list for this year’s Stirling Prize which, it was announced last week, will be sponsored by property firm Brockton... Read More
The Paradise Circus regeneration is set to become one of the biggest commercial developments to take place in Birmingham over the next few years, with £500 million worth of investment being channelled into the scheme by a number of different backers. Obviously, gaining the contract for the first phase infrastructure and enabling work will... Read More
More than 80 national and international companies will descend on the North-East today to highlight the region’s success stories and promote potential development projects. Hosted by UK Land Estates, The North-East Commercial Property and Development Showcase is being staged at Gateshead’s Team Valley Trading Estate and has been... Read More
300 new coffee shops and 43 hotels coming soon As the economic recovery intensifies going in to summer, many within the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors are experiencing the benefits of an upturn in consumer confidence first hand. One of the frontrunners in the recovery is the hotel and restaurant group Whitbread PLC, which has this... Read More
Despite the current business rates system being declared “unfit for purpose” the Government has decided to reject the latest calls for reform by MPs on the Business Select Committee. The body had recommended that the Government scrap the unpopular commercial property levy and replace it with a sales tax. However, the Government... Read More
As shopping centres throughout the country continue to sign up for renovations designed to attract new retailer tenants, one Chester complex has already found its initiative to be a success before work has even begun. Both TK Maxx and Sports Direct have agreed to take on leases for 15 years and 10 years respectively, which owners believe will... Read More
With business confidence across all UK industries skyrocketing, an increasing number of firms are channelling capital into growth and there are as yet no signs of this slowing in the near future. In fact, accountancy body The ICAEW is now predicting that overall business investment this year will double the rates set last year, marking the... Read More
Plans for the redevelopment of Wolverhampton’s Mander Centre have been recommended for approval. Should the £30 million project go ahead, it will see a large portion of the centre which was previously occupied by TJ Hughes demolished. In its place, a 93,000 sq ft Debenhams department store would be constructed, which would presumably act... Read More
As consumer confidence continues to improve, luxury retailers have seen a distinct upturn in sales, with seasonal events such as Christmas and Easter coinciding with a far greater consumer spend than has been seen in several years. However, not all have managed to reach the performance achieved in the years before the financial crisis, with... Read More
