December 9, 2014

New Scotland Yard sold to Emirati investors for £370 million

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Public Sector

Illustration: @SimonHeath1

The buyer of the Metropolitan Police’s Scotland Yard headquarters building has been confirmed as Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG). The sale of the home of the Met as part of a huge shake-up of the police’s estate was first announced last year and last month news emerged that a buyer had been found, although details of the sale were withheld. The sale of the site to the Emirati investment group for £370 million is reported to be some £120 million more than the original asking price set by London Mayor Boris Johnson. The current building has been home to the Met since 1967 but the Mayor’s office felt the sale and freeing up of resources could benefit the force’s frontline operations. The sale is part of a wider shake-up of the police estate in London which has already seen the sale of 32 buildings, raising £125 million. The restructuring programme is expected to complete in 2016 and is estimated to save around £60 million each year in running costs.

December 5, 2014

Bouygues wins £27 million office fit out contract in City of London

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, News, Property, Workplace design

Bouygues UK has been awarded a major new design and build contract by developers Morgan Capital Partners LLP. The award comes hot on the heels of the handover of another major office refurbishment at 71 Queen Victoria Street, which is a stone’s throw away from the new site at 45 Cannon Street, in the heart of London’s financial district. The deal will see the demolition of existing offices and the construction of a new eight-floor office building including a Category A office fit out and the addition of 13,000sqm of retail space on the ground floor. As part of the works, the entrance to Mansion House underground station will also be refurbished as it sits on the site. Bouygues UK is aiming for a BREEAM Excellent rating on the project. Demolition is already being carried out on site, with Bouygues scheduled to begin construction work in the New Year. The project is due for completion in 2016.

November 28, 2014

Global property measurement standard for offices is published

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

The first International Property Measurement Standard (IPMS) for offices has been published. The International Property Measurement Standards: Office Buildings was produced by the IPMS Coalition of 56 organisations to help address the long-standing problem of inconsistency in the way offices are measured around the world, which has led to deviations of up to 24 per cent across different world markets. Launched at a World Bank meeting in May 2013, the standard required 18 months of work by a group of measurement experts, including two global public consultations and 85 drafts and will mean that, for the first time, professionals and their clients will benefit from a common method for measurement, wherever they are. RICS Global President, Louise Brooke-Smith, has defined IPMS as a “profession-led response to globalisation and the vital importance of consistent and transparent standards in a modern world”.

November 25, 2014

Focus of investment should be skills, broadband and local transport say CEOs

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Public Sector, Technology

The Government should focus investment on the development of skills and broadband if it wants to drive economic growth. That is the message from a survey of 100 British CEOs carried out by Grant Thornton. Key findings of the report include the fact that 70 percent of respondents would like to see better access to training and development opportunities, 59 percent want to see an improvement in digital infrastructure and 57 percent would like more spending on roads. The Government’s flagship schemes – the Heathrow expansion, HS2 and the proposed new trans-Pennine railway receive a lukewarm response, with the majority of respondents appearing more keen on greater investment in existing long distance rail services, local public transport networks and the greater use of the UK’s underutilised regional airports. There is also a mixed response to plans for greater devolution with support only if regional Governments don’t add another layer of bureaucracy for businesses.The report has been published ahead of next week’s Autumn Statement by Chancellor George Osborne.

November 25, 2014

London Mayor names Business Energy Challenge Gold award winners

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

London mayor Boris Johnson has presented RICS, JLL, EC Harris LLP, ExCeL London (above), Intu, and Linklaters LLP, with Gold awards at the Business Energy Challenge awards, which celebrate private sector businesses that have made the biggest cuts to their energy consumption and use cleaner, greener sources of energy. Fifty-nine participants had submitted data over a six week period and were assessed on the carbon intensity per square metre of their properties; with 27 of the most successful being given a Bronze, Silver or Gold award to recognise their efforts when compared against their baseline 2010/11 energy usage. Around 75 per cent of London’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions come from buildings, with workplaces accounting for 42 per cent of total emissions. With 80 per cent of London’s buildings likely still to be operational in 50 years’ time and with much of that estate being energy inefficient the Mayor has set out a building retrofit programme. The Business Energy Challenge aims to challenge the commercial sector to take action and improve its energy efficiency to help save on operational costs. More →

November 25, 2014

UK business centres market continues to flourish, claims BCA and IPD report

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Property

A new report has revealed just how important the growing business centres market is to the UK economy. According to the report from the Business Centre Association and Investment Property Databank the market is now comparable to the City of London both in terms of the number of people employed and the amount of office space it occupies. The report also outlines both the market’s robust health during the recent economic downturn and ongoing growth in response to increasing customer demand and the changing market for office space. The sector now boasts that it provides a home to some 80,000 businesses employing more than 400,000 people who occupy around 70 million sq. ft. of space including landmark developments such as the Regus No 1 Poultry centre in the City of London (above) and generate around £2 billion of income for the economy. The report, produced in conjunction with Snapdragon Consulting, found that the serviced office sector in the UK now represents around one third of the global market.

November 21, 2014

CIBSE updates guide to engineering maintenance and management of buildings

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Updated guidance for designers, maintainers, facilities managers and building owners on the operation and maintenance of engineering services has been issued by CIBSE. Guide M: Maintenance Engineering and Management supersedes the first edition published in 2008 to provide best practice for those who have responsibility for the management and maintenance of the engineering services in a building. It is written for anyone involved in the design and construction of buildings to raise awareness of the implications their decisions have on management and maintenance. The main areas of revision relate to legislation changes and changes in best practice. The guidance continues the work of the CIBSE Maintenance Task Group chaired by Joanna Harris, and intends to close the gap between design and operation by bringing maintenance into a sharper focus and helping building and property operators become more aware of their responsibilities and duties. The ultimate aim is to help clients by managing their expectations and maximising impact from their annual spends on maintenance and management of buildings.

November 20, 2014

Land Securities takes full control of Thomas More Square for £85.3m

by Sara Bean • Company news, Facilities management, News, Property

Land Securities has taken full control of Thomas More Square, in London’s E1 for £85.3 million. It acquired the 50 per cent share it doesn’t already own from an affiliate of its joint venture partner the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board. The Thomas More Square Estate, which is located between St Katharine Docks and London Dock – totals approximately 4.2 acres and includes six office buildings incorporating retail, leisure and parking. Land Securities was granted planning permission in June 2014 for a comprehensive refurbishment of Building 3 at Thomas More Square and a redesign of the estate’s public realm. The plans for the 570,000 sq ft estate include 200,000 sq ft of fully refurbished office and retail space in Building 3 which will include a new double height entrance and an extensive business lounge. Tenants Ipsos MORI and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (“MOL”) have already let 97,000 sq ft of Building 3 on 15 year leases with 10 year breaks; while a further 100,000 sq ft will be available from mid-2015. More →

November 19, 2014

Commercial property market sees significant shift in attitudes to green building

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Legal news, News, Property

The UK commercial property market is experiencing a major attitudinal shift towards green buildings according to GVA’s fifth Green to Gold report. The biannual survey questions commercial property investors on their understanding of market perceptions of the value of sustainability criteria and gauges their attitudes towards regulation and related issues. The latest edition of the study published this month claims that the market ‘no longer views sustainability as a nice to have’ with more than half of those questioned considering green building credentials as a key driver of investment performance. Perhaps unsurprisingly this belief strengthens with regard to longer term investments. The research also found that nearly all (94 percent) of those surveyed now had a sustainability policy in place at either the organisational or fund level and 59 percent of respondents said that three quarters of their portfolios have been assessed against sustainability criteria, compared with just a quarter in 2012.

November 12, 2014

2015 looks set to deliver lowest volumes of London office space in 20 years

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

The total amount of office space under construction in central London is down to 7.7 million sq ft, with next year looking to deliver the lowest volumes of space in twenty years. However, according to the London Office Crane Survey, published by Deloitte Real Estate, 22 new schemes (2.1 million sq ft) have started construction in the last six months, almost double the volume of new space started compared to the previous six months. Steve Johns, head of City leasing at Deloitte Real Estate, said: “The sharpest rise in construction starts is in the City of London, where ten new office buildings are now underway. This includes over a million sq ft in the City core and over 500,000 sq ft in ‘tech city’, accounting for three quarters of the volume of space across all the new schemes we’ve recorded. The West End has also seen 10 new starts, adding 462,000 sq ft to the development pipeline, while Southbank, Midtown and Docklands have seen no new construction this survey.”

November 11, 2014

City of London’s iconic building the Gherkin, sold to Brazilian billionaire

by Sara Bean • Architecture, News, Property

The Gherkin, otherwise known as 30 St Mary Axe, has been sold to The Safra Group, controlled by Brazilian billionaire Joseph Safra. Although the financial terms of the deal agreed with Deloitte, the receiver for the London property were not disclosed, it is reportedly to be around £700m. Designed by Norman Foster, the 180-metre office tower encompasses approximately 50,000 square meters of office space and is the second-tallest building in the City of London. It was completed in 2004 for Swiss Re, which still occupies half the space, along with law firm Kirkland & Ellis. Safra Group said that the acquisition: “Is consistent with our real estate strategy of investing in properties that are truly special – at the best locations within great cities. While only ten years old, this building is already a London icon that is distinguished from others in the market, with excellent value growth potential. We intend to make the building even better and more desirable through active ownership that will lead to a range of enhancements that will benefit tenants.”

November 10, 2014

Stockholm is Europe’s top tech start up location, claims interactive report

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, News, Property, Technology

A new study by videoconferencing firm Atomico shows that the European centre for billion dollar technology start ups in Europe is Stockholm, followed by London and Berlin. The interactive visualisation from the survey shows that Stockholm is second only to Silicon Valley as a successful founding location for successful Internet businesses with a current market valuation of over $1 billion founded since 2003. Silicon Valley remains in a completely different league to locations on the rest of the planet with 53 startups, followed by Beijing with 17, New York with seven and Stockholm with five. London, meanwhile, has only three tech start up businesses in the £1 billion category despite its reputation as a hotbed of tech entrepreneurialism, the same number as Berlin. According to the report, Stockholm’s ability to foster successful tech startups is even more impressive based on its population of around one million, which makes it the second most prolific per capita location worldwide,with 6.3 billion-dollar companies per million people compared to Silicon Valley with 6.9.