As property demand in London increases, developers claim the only solution is to build taller and taller. However, Transport for London (TfL) has come up with an alternative solution. Rather than looking towards the skies for new opportunities, TfL is encouraging developers and investors to cast their eyes downwards – towards the... Read More
Work will start next month on a £43m advanced manufacturing facility in Sheffield that aims to become the “world’s most advanced factory” on its 2015 completion. Factory 2050 — to be built on a new Advanced Manufacturing Campus at Sheffield Business Park — is the latest trans-Atlantic collaboration between the University of... Read More
Hard pressed London businesses and commercial property owners will be less than impressed to learn that over 50 foreign embassies owe local authorities in excess of half a million pounds in unpaid business rates. Overseas diplomats are officially exempt from most forms of national and local taxation but this immunity does not apply... Read More
Marks & Spencer this week reached the halfway point in the recruitment process for its new £40 million store on Stoke-on-Trent’s Wolstanton Retail Park that has been in the pipeline since 2012. The retailer will create a total of 250 new positions within the 140,000 sq ft outlet, which is due to open on the 19th of... Read More
Last week, the news that Phones4u had been forced into administration created shockwaves and left thousands of employees fearing for their jobs. Fortunately, it has now emerged that a number of jobs will be saved thanks to telecommunications giant EE, which is currently on the brink of signing a deal to acquire a portion of the... Read More
Three separate planning applications for office towers in the City of London are expected shortly, Building Design reports this morning. The proposed commercial developments are all in the eastern cluster, close to the site of the stalled Pinnacle scheme for which new designs are currently being drawn-up. The report states that City... Read More
Seven years after it was first unveiled planners have finally given the go-ahead to a £260m scheme to transform a historic railway works. The development is one of the North of England’s biggest ever regeneration projects. The 180-acre Horwich Loco Works scheme — jointly led by a partnership between Bluemantle Ltd and Orbit... Read More
The transformation of a Yorkshire city’s “ugly duckling” business quarter is moving a step closer to completion with the overhaul of its biggest single office block. Work starts next week on the multi-million pound refurbishment of Leeds’ landmark 9 Bond Court, a 68,230 sq ft part-let office building in the city’s Bond Court... Read More
Loss rates for US banks are at the lowest levels in the past six years on commercial real estate and construction loans, which means they are looking to increase lending activity in the sector. According to data from financial information specialists Sageworks, net charge-offs for commercial real estate loans were 0.16 per cent of... Read More
Rockspring Property Investment Managers have placed the Eastgate Shopping Centre in Gloucester on the market. Rockspring is currently in the process of offloading seven of its shopping malls around the country, in a process that could raise £275 million for future investment opportunities. Although “no decision has yet been taken on... Read More
Marks & Spencer, once one of the key players on the high street, has had a difficult time of late, with a lack of consumer enthusiasm for new clothing lines and increased competition causing the 130 year old retailer to fall behind key rival Next for the first time in history. However, this has not proved to be a deterrent when it comes... Read More
Europe had been slow to get on board with real estate investment trusts (REITs), but that has changed with a record surge in fundraising which has provided a lift to the commercial property market. In the first eight months of 2014, 10 REITs in Spain, Ireland, the United Kingdom and other countries have raised US $4.2 billion, which is... Read More
Industrial property in the Australian market delivered returns of 12.1 per cent over the year ended June 30 2014. This exceeds the returns from retail and office property, which generated returns of 9.8 and 9.0 per cent, respectively. The strong showing is the result of demand for distribution and warehousing generated by increases in... Read More
Peel Leisure — the Manchester-based subsidiary of the Peel Group — has completed a re-branding of its hotel division aimed at creating a “one-stop shop” for investment in the sector. Based at its parent company’s Trafford Centre offices, Tower Hotel Management (THM) currently operates seven hotels under various international... Read More
Two Yorkshire retail schemes are benefiting from the upturn in occupier demand which has accompanied the economic recovery. Specialist retail park fund Hercules Unit Trust (HUT), which is advised by British Land, has today announced that its Parkgate Shopping scheme in Rotherham is now fully let following the arrival of Wilko and... Read More
Yesterday’s rejection of independence by Scottish voters is likely to trigger a surge in commercial development and investment, some experts are claiming. Last week, it emerged that property investors were inserting “exit clauses”into deals in case the country voted for independence. Developer Land Securities was considering... Read More
Shopping centres throughout the UK are now beginning to recognise the beneficial effect a strong and diverse offering and have begun to invest in their leisure offering. This has seen the Capitol Shopping Centre in Cardiff launch preparatory works for the re-opening of its cinema, which has stood empty for more than 10 years. Moorfield... Read More
London Mayor Boris Johnson has vowed to fight proposals to extend the scheme which makes it easier for commercial landlords to convert office space to residential accommodation. The planning reform was introduced last year to tackle the housing crisis, but critics have always maintained that it would result in a damaging loss of... Read More
The surge in subsidised and free start-up desk space has forced one of Manchester’s pioneering tech community companies to pull out of the city after just two years. In what it describes as a “mutual decision” TechHub — which offers workspace for technology and software entrepreneurs — has closed its Manchester venue. The... Read More
An ‘extremely active and exciting’ six months boosted the value of Canary Wharf Group’s property portfolio by 8.4 per cent, interim results published today reveal. During the first half of the year (ending 30 June 2014) the value of the portfolio rose to just under £6.3 billion, including land and adjusted to take into account... Read More
The North-East’s biggest property investment and development company has started the next phase of the multi-million refurbishment of its Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate. So far UK Land Estates — which owns more 1,300 units across 40 regional industrial and commercial complexes — has invested almost £2.5m to upgrade 12 of the smaller... Read More
In what is being seen as the most outspoken criticism of the business rates system so far, more than 100 of the country’s biggest companies have condemned the tax as a “critical problem” to recovery and future investment. Demanding that all the major political parties commit to reforming the current system as part of their... Read More
