Tom Howley, the bespoke kitchens brand, has agreed a ten year lease on a property at 72 Fulham Road SW3, The South Kensington Estate has confirmed. The new showroom, which is due to open in March 2015, will be Tom Howley’s second store in London and the eighth in the UK. Ed Warrick, from the Property and Infrastructure team at The... Read More
The British Property Federation (BPF) has welcomed the publication of a National Policy Statement for the road and rail networks, describing it as ‘a boost for the industrial sector'. The statement, which follows a consultation period earlier this year, outlines a framework for the upgrading and further development of the... Read More
Two London planning authorities have taken steps to cut the number of developers snapping up offices and turning them into luxury housing. In the first move of its kind, owners wanting to convert City of London offices into flats and apartments will have to prove the building is no longer "viable" as a commercial property. At the... Read More
The Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan (OTPP), Canada’s largest single profession pension plan, has moved their business into 10 Portman Square in the West End of London, signing a fifteen year lease for 18,535 sq ft of second floor office space, according to an announcement made this month by British Land. This means that the seven floor... Read More
The merger between electrical goods retailer Dixons and mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse earlier this year saw two of the strongest brands on the high street unite. As expected, this has had a positive impact upon sales performance, with the newly created Dixons Carphone brand reporting a very strong first half in its first year of... Read More
Hammerson has announced that work on its upcoming WestQuay Watermark development in Southampton will officially begin early in the New Year, with the £70 million scheme set to be constructed in two phases. Phase one, for which enabling works have already been conducted, will be overseen by main contractor Sir Robert McAlpine and will... Read More
More and more landlords are applying to convert empty offices into residential accommodation before a temporary change to the planning system runs out in 17 months’ time, a leading commercial property agent has claimed. Under the Government's permitted development rights — introduced at the end of May, 2013, as a way of increasing... Read More
The upturn in the US economy should keep interest in commercial real estate steady, according to the quarterly forecast released by the National Association of Realtors®. (NAR) Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, commented recently that commercial activity should increase gradually heading into the New Year. He went on say that... Read More
A team of government inspectors today moved to curb the power of Tower Hamlets Council to sell property, following the publication of a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report which found evidence of “serious irregularities and a lack of transparency” in the disposal of public buildings. The move is part of a wider takeover of the... Read More
Birmingham is swiftly becoming one of the top European destinations for visitors from the Far East and America. This has been reinforced by its inclusion on travel guidebook series Rough Guides’ top ten most exciting global destinations to visit in 2015 and tourism bodies in the city hope that this will fuel a further boom in visitor... Read More
The Autumn Statement has been largely welcomed by retail bodies, with the much awaited review of business rates the icing on the cake of a programme of funding initiatives for small businesses. However, this week “high street guru” Mary Portas has hit out at the government, claiming that the “token gestures” seen so far have not been... Read More
The De Vere empire has now been fully broken up, with United States private equity company KSL Capital Partners acquiring the final piece of the hotel group — the 28 property De Vere Village chain — for £480m. A former FTSE 100 listed company, De Vere says it is confident that "a well-progressed asset sell-off" has allowed it to... Read More
The Government is contributing a third of the money needed to launch a high-tech Merseyside university business hub that could house 300 new businesses and create 1,000 new jobs. Sensor City — described as a "sensor-systems business incubator" — is a £15m collaboration between the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores... Read More
Birmingham has become something of a hub of developmental activity in the past year, with large scale works taking place at Birmingham New Street station, the adjoining Grand Central retail scheme and also at the Mailbox. However, while these are all due to complete in the New Year, 2015 will bring with it a fresh wave of redevelopments, with... Read More
The results of the latest CPE 100 Quarterly Sentiment Survey point to 2016 as being a peak year for the US market. Close to half of the group of industry leaders surveyed (46%) said that asset values and transaction volume across property types have not hit their peak yet and are forecasting that it is still two years away. Only 15%... Read More
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) — which owns and manages the British military infrastructure — has sold the Old War Office where Sir Winston Churchill worked during World War II for an undisclosed sum. When the sell-off was first announced in 2013 offers in excess of £100m were invited for the property. The Grade II... Read More
Legal & General Property (LGP) has completed a deal to buy the entire Ocean Portfolio for £226.5 million, representing a net initial yield of 6.5 per cent. The Ocean Portfolio is comprised of 13 different sites located throughout the UK, although much of the space can be found in the Midlands and North East. However, the majority... Read More
A UK-focused commercial property investment fund has swooped on one of Manchester's most "architecturally pleasing" buildings. Acting for wealth managers St James's Place, Orchard Street Investment Management reportedly paid £31m for Four Hardman Square in Spinningfields. Munich-based GLL Real Estate Partners owned the four-storey... Read More
With people leading increasingly busy lives, many office workers place value and speed above all other factors when looking for a bite to eat at lunchtime. This has caused profits at high street bakery chain Greggs to skyrocket, meaning that executives have now raised their full year profits expectations for the current financial... Read More
The Canal & River Trust is searching for investors and developers to help it unlock the potential of two Midlands waterside sites. The first scheme involves the £20m regeneration of an industrial site at Wharfdale Park. Birmingham City Council has already granted outline permission for high specification warehouse and... Read More
York's iconic Bonding Warehouse — which has survived flooding, vandalism and a squat by peace demonstrators — is being offered for sale after a multi-million pound refurbishment. Two years ago the abandoned riverside Grade II listed building near Skeldergate was acquired by York-based developer Grantside. Today, fully restored... Read More
Three care homes and a day centre in North Wales are under risk of closure after the authority approved £5.4 million worth of budget cuts. In a bid to save around £700,000, Dolwen, Cysgody Gaer and Awelon care homes look to be the ones that will be affected, with a total of fifty four residents living in them and ninety six staff. Also at... Read More
