Stoke-on-Trent city centre will soon welcome a new £10 million development which will add three family restaurants and a pub to the North Staffordshire leisure offering. Characin Developments will construct the new development on a plot of derelict land opposite the Premier Inn following extensive preparation works on the site, which... Read More
As rents continue to rise in prime business locations, developers are increasingly keen to modernise or redevelop properties in order to create a greater supply of Grade A office space. This has been the case at 103 Colmore Row in Birmingham, where new owners Rockspring and Sterling Property Ventures are seeking to fast track planning... Read More
Shopping centre transactions during 2014 reached volumes not seen since prior to the recession, DTZ reports. Last year, investment transactions in the UK reached £5.83 billion, with 101 shopping centres bought or sold in 70 separate transactions. According to DTZ, this is higher than both the 2006 total of £5.62 billion and the 10... Read More
One of the world's largest property investors is pumping £81m into a new distribution warehouse at Birch Coppice Business Park. The deal is the third major pre-let on the Tamworth estate in less than nine months. The latest 777,929 sq ft build-to-suit warehouse is being planned and built by IM Properties Development and will be leased... Read More
A new initiative launching next week by Transport for London (TfL) will offer investors and developers the opportunity to battle it out for prime commercial space. TfL has announced that it will be placing 50 tube stops, bus stations and other properties on the market, in a bid to raise up to £3.4 billion for investment into... Read More
Tesco's new chief executive, Dave Lewis, has named the 43 stores he is closing as the first phase of his campaign to turn the struggling supermarket around. It's expected at least 2,000 staff will lose their jobs. Already dubbed "Drastic" Dave Lewis by the media, he confirmed Tesco would shut 43 unprofitable shops and scrap plans for a... Read More
In a move likely to dismay as many as it pleases, 14 office buildings designed in the post-war era have been awarded Grade II listed status. The announcement was made yesterday, following an 18 month project by English Heritage, and includes office properties from towns and cities throughout England. Experts began with a list of... Read More
It has been reported that a former industrial estate in Selly Oak is to undergo a £10.75 million redevelopment, which will deliver brand new student accommodation. The project, which is scheduled to be opened by September 2015, was negotiated by North West based Construction Partnership UK (CPUK) and will consist of six two and three... Read More
As regional areas around the UK continue to benefit from the upturn in the economic recovery, local authorities are keen to capitalise on developer interest as a means of driving growth in their local economies. This has seen Stockport Council grant planning permission for two major developments expected to create numerous jobs within the... Read More
Malaysia’s lifestyle property development group, Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O), has made its third foray into the London property market with the purchase of two offices buildings for £57m. Three years ago it paid Glasgow City Council £20.25m for Princes House. The Scottish authority made the central London sale as... Read More
Specialist commercial agent KWB has completed what it claims is "the largest transaction for offices in Worcestershire for over a decade". Acting for M&G Real Estate, one of the world's largest property investors, the Birmingham-based consultancy has let all 31,821 sq ft at 3 Kings Court in Worcester to a single government... Read More
The John Lewis Partnership seems virtually untouchable in the new era of retailing, with both its self-titled department store chain and Waitrose supermarket subsidiary proving consistently popular with consumers. In fact, executives have this week announced plans to expand the latter on a grand scale, creating up to 2000 new UK jobs in the... Read More
A new report from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) predicts average annual industry growth of 2.9 per cent until 2019. As a result, the next five years will see construction firms grow exponentially, with the CITB forecasting the creation of 224,000 jobs during the period. As around 2.6 million workers are currently... Read More
Less than six week after the sale of the historic Old War Office, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted it will need to sell off more property and land if it is to keep pace with Government savings. Although the department's finances are "in a better shape than they were", Defence Secretary Michael Fallon is expected to tell an... Read More
Songbird Estates has conceded defeat in its battle to hold on to Canary Wharf, and reluctantly recommended that shareholders accept the offer from Canadian property investor Brookfield and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund QIA. Today’s recommendation comes only two weeks after Songbird told shareholders to reject the £2.6 billion... Read More
Despite the fact that consumers are now spending more than at any point since the financial crisis, the local pub remains under threat, with many of those forced to close in the past year being turned into convenience stores or discount units. However, a new pledge by the government offers the traditional pub a little more protection from... Read More
British Land has today (27th January) published its Q3 2014/15 trading statement, showing another good performance from the company. In the period to 31st December 2014, British Land completed 269,000 sq ft of retail lettings and renewals and 168,000 sq ft of office lettings and renewals. A further 116,000 sq ft of office space is... Read More
Property investor and developer Bruntwood, has purchased the former head office of KPMG, for an amount rumoured to be around £10 million. The acquisition of Two Cornwall Street was mentioned in Bruntwood's 2014 annual results, which boasts an impressive 56 per cent increase in profits with £19.3 million being made. It is also reported... Read More
A consortium of Northumberland businessmen has hired Newcastle-based Silverstone Building Consultancy to project manage the construction of a new convenience store within the county. Work on the 4,000 sq ft retail unit at Pegswood, near Morpeth, has already started with the project pre-let to the Co-op Group. The food retailer... Read More
One of Yorkshire's most active property companies has revealed that it has more than £80m worth of office, retail and industrial projects across the north of England and Wales in its development pipeline. After an "excellent" 2014, Ilkley-based Opus North predicts it is heading for a record breaking year with multi-million pound... Read More
As councils nationwide continue to cut costs as a means of patching lowered budgets, developers are increasingly able to capitalise upon a growing supply of commercial assets appearing on the market. In Coventry, the city council has now confirmed that it will seek a bidder for the Riley Square shopping centre in Bell Green following a review... Read More
Space within the upcoming Grand Central Birmingham shopping centre is quickly filling up, with the development expected to bring a significant boost to the city centre when it opens later this year. The latest retailer to bag a unit is Foyles, with the Birmingham outlet to be only the second outside of London for... Read More
