Rents for older office buildings in Manchester have risen by more than a third as businesses compete to secure city centre space. According to one leading commercial agent the trend has driven up rents for older floorspace in the 10,000 sq ft-plus category have increased by more than 35 per cent since the start of last year — rising... Read More
Regeneration specialist Urban Splash has secured a wave of lettings totalling 9,000 sq ft in the past month alone. The award winning firm, which controls a commercial property portfolio of more than 1 million sq ft, has closed new lease agreements with a total of 10 tenants at schemes in Plymouth, Liverpool and Manchester. The biggest... Read More
British Land and Oxford Properties have confirmed three new lettings at The Leadenhall Building, totalling around 100,000 sq ft across seven floors of the City of London skyscraper. Brit Insurance has signed a 15 year lease on 66,300 sq ft across Levels 16 to 18, 39 and 40. The market leading global insurer is relocating to The... Read More
Despite recently being described as the most active city for property development outside London, Brighton & Hove faces a severe commercial shortage that threatens to put the brakes on the local economy. The warning comes from national property consultants Stiles Harold Williams, who say that geographical limitations and relatively... Read More
In its fourth consecutive year of profitability, Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) has announced an after-tax profit of €458m (£326.7m) — more than double the €214m (£152.7m) surplus it made during 2013. Releasing the agency’s 2014 annual report, NAMA chairman Frank Daly underlined his previous prediction... Read More
The growth of the London commercial property market has provided a boost for Helical Bar, which today released results showing that, in the year to the 31st of March, the value of the firm’s portfolio rose to over £1 billion. Although pre-tax profits during the year failed to match the staggering £101.7 million achieved in the... Read More
A new survey forecasts that retailers could well be celebrating their best performance in 27 years next month - news that could have beneficial implications for the commercial property industry. According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the combination of low inflation and a buoyant labour market have elevated household... Read More
Picton Capital has completed the final two lettings at its popular Birmingham leisure scheme Regency Wharf, adding to the city's growing dining and entertainment offer. American-style restaurant Rub Smokehouse will occupy a 7,500 sq ft “sky bar” unit within the development, paying a rental rate of £9.25 per sq ft on a 15 year... Read More
LaSalle Investment Management has embarked on the marketing of a seven centre portfolio of secondary retail destinations on behalf of Mars Pension Funds. The portfolio includes the Kingdom Centre in Glenrothes, which has already begun to spark significant interest. Although Mars only acquired the centre 20 months ago for £34.3... Read More
Nine Elms on the South Bank is hosting a series of events throughout June, showcasing the £15 billion transformation of the former industrial area into an internationally significant commercial and residential district. The programme of events is part of the London Festival of Architecture (LFA) which takes place between 1-30 June,... Read More
One of Newcastle’s most iconic buildings — on what was once voted the UK’s best street — is close to putting up the ‘fully let’ sign less than a year after a buyout and upgrade. Minel Leisure has operated one of its Marco Polo restaurants on the ground floor of the city’s Cathedral Buildings for more than a decade.... Read More
A new report from CBRE, estimates that an additional 5.1 million sq ft of office space will be required for professional services firms in London by 2019. This, the report says, will create a tension between rising property costs, competition to attract talent and employee satisfaction. The report found that 92 per cent of respondents... Read More
The £20 million leisure extension at intu Potteries is fully pre-let, six months ahead of its scheduled opening, intu Properties has confirmed. The impressive occupier line-up has been completed by Bon Pan Asian Restaurant, which has taken a 13,750 sq ft first-floor unit on a 25 year lease. In total, the extension will add 60,000 sq... Read More
A global private investment management company has confirmed it is developing a £200m office block in the heart of the City of London. Swiss-based Partners Group is joining forces with Marick Real Estate to jointly develop the 245,000 sq ft Grade A office building at 80 Fenchurch Street. Demolition of a vacant building on the site... Read More
Hortons’ Estate has today confirmed that its newly refurbished Enterprise House (pictured below) is now fully let, as office market activity accelerates in Birmingham city centre. The family owned company, which recently appointed a new chairman, has invested over £1 million upgrading the 15,000 sq ft Edmund Street building. The... Read More
Secure Income REIT has announced that it has exchanged contracts for the sale of the London property occupied by Madame Tussauds to Taiwanese investor Fubon Life, in a deal worth £332.5 million. Madame Tussauds has occupied the property for the past 130 years, and the attraction’s owner Merlin Entertainments, has a lease with 27... Read More
One of Scotland’s fastest growing digital creative agencies has ended its two year search for a new home by signing up to take all of Edinburgh’s recently refurbished Norloch House, on a 10-year lease. The Millard Estates-owned classic Victorian stone-built, Grade C listed property on the city’s King’s Stables Road was pre-let... Read More
Within days of the Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, calling for an EU referendum to be held as soon as possible, one of Britain’s biggest property consultancies has warned that any delay “could leave a permanent cloud of uncertainty over the economy”. In its Market Outlook for May, Knight Frank says that in recent weeks we... Read More
The first three months of 2015 have seen a period of stability for office rents in both Dubai’s prime and secondary markets, following a slowdown in the rate of increases during the last quarter of 2014. In its Spring 2015 Dubai Commercial Property Outlook report, Cluttons’ states that Grade A office rents increased at a rate of 14... Read More
As regional areas continue to gain an increased amount of interest from developers seeking space for retail and leisure complexes, cinema operators are engaging in renewed programmes of expansion which largely stalled in the early years of the recession. However, Cineworld has now questioned its commitment to a major development in Oswestry,... Read More
A Welsh council is selling off a watersports adventure centre as a potential development site because it claims the former Prince’s Trust complex is too expensive to run. Pembrokeshire County Council has now hired commercial property adviser, Bilfinger GVA, to market Pembrokeshire Watersports Centre in Pembroke Dock as well as... Read More
Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) has this week announced the acquisition of a top Bedford retail park. The REIT snapped up the freehold interest for St John’s Retail Park 1.5 miles south of Bedford town centre in a deal worth £31.8 million, reflecting an impressively above average initial yield of around 6.5 per... Read More
