Britain’s biggest healthcare property owner and developer has added a new asset to its 230-site portfolio with the £12.3m purchase of Middlesbrough’s One Life Building. Originally developed by a group of local general practitioners under the company name of Park Medical Services, the 35,000 sq ft office block and medical complex... Read More
Lloyds Bank has confirmed that it will close a net 150 branches over the next three years. Although the high street banking chain has not yet revealed which branches are due to close it has revealed that the first wave will occur primarily in urban centres. However, this does not mean customers in rural areas will have their local... Read More
Gulf Related – a joint venture between Gulf Capital and Related Companies – and Al Tayer Group, has announced details of a landmark agreement that will see leading US department stores Macy’s and Bloomingdales open branches in a £621 million Abu Dhabi shopping centre which is currently under construction. Macy’s and... Read More
Europe’s largest listed commercial property company, Unibail-Rodamco, is to showcase its latest development schemes at MAPIC 2014. The company, which has assets valued at €33.6 billion, will be exhibiting on two stands at the annual international retail property event which takes place in Cannes (19-21 November... Read More
Developers are preparing a rash of speculative “Big Hut” schemes across the North West with some experts predicting as much one-million square feet being unveiled before Christmas. The latest warehouse and logistics boom — at half-a-dozen sites across Greater Manchester and Cheshire — is being credited to a sharp rise in... Read More
Following last week’s news that commercial construction in the West Midlands has hit a 20 year high, property professionals are now predicting that the region is on course for a record year of commercial investment. According to a new report by property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), the third quarter saw investment in the... Read More
During the initial period of the recovery which followed the recession, it was easy to imagine that the problems facing businesses were all but eliminated. Unfortunately, the latest data from consultancy firm EY demonstrates that this is entirely false as profit warnings have now reached their highest level since 2008. According to the... Read More
City of York Council is pumping at least £10m into a joint venture development project with Network Rail for what it describes as the county’s “premier brownfield development site”. The cash — coming from the authority’s Economic Infrastructure Fund (EIF) — is being used to kick-start the 86-acre city centre scheme behind... Read More
The oil and gas stranglehold on Aberdeen industrial and office space is forcing companies to look further afield, one industry expert has claimed. Surging prices, fuelled by the work space shortage, are also increasing an outward expansion from the North Sea gateway city, said Neil McAllister of commercial property consultants... Read More
Altringham based Amstone Developments has submitted a planning application for a major mixed use scheme in Salford. The investment and development group, which has in excess of £100 million of assets throughout the UK and Germany, is seeking approval for an ‘urban village’ that will provide 17,000 sq ft of flexible commercial... Read More
With demand in Ireland’s commercial property market continuing to gather pace, the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) has admitted it will run out of saleable assets in less than four years. The revelation — included in the state bad bank’s 2015 policy statement — comes as surveys from both sides of the border report... Read More
Hillwood, the Dallas-based property company, is entering the Canadian real estate market. Hillwood has entered a partnership with Alberta land developer Highfield Investment Group (HiG) to build what will be the largest speculative industrial development in Alberta. The 500,000 sq ft facility will be constructed in the High Plains... Read More
The Deputy Prime Minister has invited the 20,000 technology businesses in Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool and Newcastle to create a virtual hub — and challenge the international dominance of high-tech cities. Launching TechNorth – aimed at attracting inward investment by pooling ideas and resources — Nick Clegg said:... Read More
An affiliate of CBRE Global Investors, Strategic Partners U.S., has bought Airport Corporate Center from Hines REIT. The 45-acre, 11 building office park changed hands for a reported sum of $132.3 million. Vance Maddocks, Strategic Partners U.S. president, stated recently that the company was attracted to Miami by the city’s growth... Read More
Commercial property investment in Central and Eastern Europe (excluding Russia) has increased by 11 per cent year-on-year, according to a recently-released report from CBRE. The Polish market is performing well, with €1,781 million invested in the nine-month period to the end of September 2014, but the limited supply of prime assets... Read More
Although the pace of manufacturing output has slowed slightly in the West Midlands, the region is benefitting from the sharp rise in UK construction activity, with the local workload reaching levels not seen since 1994. According to the RICS UK Q3 Construction Market Survey, the past quarter saw a steep rise in residential and... Read More
The new owner of Granada Television’s Manchester headquarters has hinted entertainment will remain a part of its regeneration plans for the historic studio. Allied London — the developer behind the city’s Spinningfields business and retail quarter — acquired the studio site in a £26.5m joint venture deal with the city council.... Read More
London based investment and asset manager, Ellandi, has acquired The Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle for an undisclosed sum. The community shopping centre specialist has assumed ownership of 356,700 sq ft of retail space with tenants including Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Boots and New Look. Centre manager Rob Clarke believes... Read More
Scotland’s big property tax shake-up could slow construction and deter commercial investment, experts have warned. From next April the Land and Building Transaction Tax (LBTT) is replacing the current UK system of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) levied on the purchase or lease of all Scottish property. Announcement by finance... Read More
Multinational banking and financial services company Societe Generale is to lease 280,000 sq ft in a new 700,000 sq ft Canary Wharf office building. Canary Wharf Group and Societe Generale have agreed a pre let for the ground to seventh floors of 26-storey 1 Bank Street which is currently under construction. The 25 year lease,... Read More
With the majority of retail reports in the past year showing the Big Four supermarkets losing further ground to discounters some have begun to question the future of the big box format. Supermarkets have responded to this with high-profile marketing campaigns or dropping prices to rock bottom levels, but Waitrose boss Mark Price... Read More
Many will know Knypersley Reservoir, near the town of Biddulph in Staffordshire, as a popular place to walk the dog and get some exercise, but many won’t know of its paranormal past and haunting present. Firstly, there are several hotspots for hauntings around the reservoir, one being Gawtons Stone and Gawtons Well, where a servant... Read More
