Award winning developer Allied London has confirmed a £100m-plus funding package that will allow it complete the final building in Manchester’s Spinningfields estate. The triple funding deal— between the North West Evergreen Fund, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV and Lloyds Bank— is the largest development funding transaction... Read More
Shopping centres continue to be highly desirable assets for investors, with many taking the opportunity to extend or renovate existing floor space upon making an acquisition. This is the case for Evolve Estates, which has purchased Totton Shopping Centre in a deal worth just under £5 million and is now looking to redevelop the site to pave... Read More
Cheap debt has created an investment climate where investors are making riskier choices than they would otherwise make when the cost of borrowing is higher, according to Australian financiers. There is not enough demand for office space alone to account for the price increase the market has seen during the past 12 months and low... Read More
Construction firm Kier Group is poised to relocate to its new 8,500 sq ft Leeds regional headquarters next month. The new offices will accommodate a workforce of 1000 people with space for expansion and new employees. Managing director John O'Callaghan will head the team at the new headquarters. Currently, Kier Group is developing a... Read More
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) says the country’s $NZ180 billion ($US 132.21 billion) commercial property market is less risky than it was before the global financial crisis because less debt is being used to provide funding for new developments and purchases. In a bulletin released by the Bank recently, it stated that... Read More
According to the biannual survey from Bilfinger GVA, take-up on UK business parks saw a healthy increase in the second half of 2014. At 3.2 million sq ft, it was the highest six monthly total since 1996. The combination of high demand in the South East and two recent large pre-lets in Aberdeen, is the main reason for the increase. At... Read More
AXA Insurance and AXA PPP Healthcare Ltd have let 2,328 sq ft of office space at One Cornwall Street, Birmingham to Santander. The bank currently occupies the third floor at One Cornwall Street, which is used as its Birmingham Corporate Banking Centre, and has now signed an eight-year lease on the fourth floor. Located in the Colmore... Read More
Retailers will no longer need to apply for planning permission if they want to offer a click-and-collect service. The regulation change — which comes into effect from 15 April — is designed to help businesses cash in on the “seismic shift” in shopping habits. Confirmed in the dying days of the last parliament, the broadening of... Read More
Calgary’s commercial real estate market saw a major jump in dollar volume in its retail sector, despite seeing a small decline overall. The Capital Investments Report, which tracks sales of over $2 million, showed that the overall dollar volume decreased by $200 million to $2.4 billion. However, the retail sector grew by 70 per cent... Read More
Cushman & Wakefield has released its 2015-16 global office forecast, which examines Grade A office market trends, with results looking positive across the board. The report covers Europe, the United States and the Americas, Canada, Asia Pacific, Latin America and South America. According to Maria T. Sicola, the head of Cushman... Read More
West End retailers could be facing record business rates demands by 2017, one of Britain’s leading property service providers has warned. According to new research by BNP Paribas Real Estate, businesses based in England will forced to pay rates bills based on half of the rental value of their properties — the highest yet... Read More
An landmark North-East business complex — once the biggest office site in Europe — could be converted to residential accommodation after changing hands for the second time in five months. In September last year Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate paid £296m for the Regent Centre in Gosforth, Newcastle, as part of its acquisition of... Read More
For the majority of workers in the UK, small luxuries in the workplace include a microwave, kettle and – for the very lucky – a dining area where lunch breaks can be spent socialising with colleagues. However, it seems that those chained to their desks from 9 to 5 have begun to long for more than the traditional office staples, with hair... Read More
The supermarket price war has dominated the grocery industry for the past few years, with retailers increasingly attempting to gain an advantage over their cut price rivals including foreign import brands such as Aldi and Lidl. The latest manifestation of this battle represents the lucrative Easter trade, and has seen the average cost of... Read More
Plans to revive a stalled multi-million pound regeneration scheme for the centre of Sheffield have been unveiled by a three-way partnership that includes the administrators of the former developer. PricewaterhouseCoopers, which is handling the affairs of collapsed developer Castlemore, is joining forces with the city council and new... Read More
American private investment firm, Starwood Capital Group, has sold an award winning East London hotel for the asking price of £150m — equivalent to around £580,000 per room. The Connecticut-based developer acquired the Shoreditch High Street hotel building — on the site of the original Shoreditch Empire music hall — in 2012. It... Read More
Property industry charity LandAid has awarded a record £1,260,924 in grants to 23 projects, making 2014/2015 the best-ever year for the charity. LandAid’s latest grants have been awarded to the Belfast Buildings Trust, which received £100,000, Country Holidays for Inner City Kids (CHICKS) which received £116,000 and The Ashley... Read More
Kingfisher has been one of the major UK groups to benefit from the housing boom triggered by the government’s Help to Buy scheme, with thousands of customers choosing to engage in a little DIY amidst a renewed buoyancy in the residential market. However, ongoing changes in the retail industry have meant many of the group’s large... Read More
The Leadenhall Building is now 77 per cent let or under offer following the arrival of leading virtual IT systems group IPsoft, British Land and Oxford Properties have announced today. The New York based company has agreed terms on a ten year lease, with a five year break option, on Level 31 of the City of London skyscraper, which... Read More
A mothballed Birmingham city centre retail scheme — now at the heart of the massive HS2 Curzon Master Plan — has been sold to a major British property development and investment company. Bullring owner and investment company, Hammerson, has taken 100 per cent control of the £550m Martineau Galleries project. It previously held a... Read More
The City of London Corporation has opened the bidding in an auction for the right to brand some of the Square Mile's most iconic buildings. The news follows extensive soul searching by the Corporation which only last autumn blocked a move by Salesforce to re-brand a prominent skyscraper in the district. The cloud computing giant... Read More
Hammerson’s Victoria Quarter is steadily becoming one of Leeds’ premier retail destinations, with strong investment into diversification attracting an increasing number of retailers from the luxury end of the market. This week, the operator has announced that international luxury eyewear brand Cutler and Gross is set to open a new... Read More
