Search Results for: london

March 20, 2014

CIBSE’s new website inspired by iconic new City of London building

by Sara Bean • Company news, Facilities management, Property

5 Broadgate in the City of London

The look and feel of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers’ (CIBSE) new website, which was unveiled this week, has been inspired by a building. According to CIBSE the modular, precise design of 5 Broadgate, designed by Make Architects is echoed in the modern new design, improved user navigation and optimisation for mobile and smart devices of its new website. 5 Broadgate, the new City headquarters for financial services firm UBS, is a 700,000 sq ft, 12 storey building based on a single block form, featuring deep reveals to windows and openings that are designed to add to its overall feeling of substance. The new building will include up to four trading floors, each able to accommodate approximately 750 traders, allowing UBS to consolidate its London trading operations into one building, when fully occupied in 2016. More →

March 7, 2014

UK commercial property thriving, as domestic investors shy from London

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

Edinburgh is one city enjoying a resurgence in investment

The distinctions between the commercial property market in London and those in the rest of the UK are becoming increasingly evident, based on new data from DTZ. While the value of transactions hit a record breaking £44.7 billion last year, up nearly a third on the figures for 2012, the majority of investments into regional markets were made by domestic firms while those in London were dominated by overseas investors. Around £23 billion of the overall total was invested in property outside of the capital, a reversal of last year when more money was invested in the capital than outside it. Meanwhile foreign investors spent a total of £20bn throughout the year with the majority (£14.2 bn) invested in Central London. According to DTZ, one notable trend in the year was for UK investors to divest property in London and shift investment to other areas of the UK.

March 5, 2014

New data suggests that London no longer belongs to the UK, but the World

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, News, Property

One of the subjects touched on in the first episode of Evan Davis’s BBC documentary series about the economic distinctions between London and the rest of the UK Mind the Gap was the impact of investment by the global super-rich into London property. At one point he asked the Malaysian investor behind the £8 billion Battersea Power Station redevelopment whether he’d considered investing in other cities in the UK. The response was a straight no, but the accompanying glance said rather more. London is no longer a British city but one that belongs to the world, it said, so any comparison with Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Cardiff and Edinburgh is meaningless. You might disagree with this point of view, but a raft of new data appears to make it very evident indeed that London is now shaped by global plutocrats in a way that cannot be mirrored in the rest of the UK.

February 25, 2014

City of London grants planning permission for ‘Gotham City’

by Sara Bean • Architecture, News, Property

Planning permission has been granted from the City of London for a £12.7 billion scheme at 40 Leadenhall Street. The building – dubbed ‘Gotham City’ – is located beside the Gherkin at the heart of the City’s eastern cluster of tall buildings and will vary in height between 7 and 34 office storeys. It will feature two additional basement levels, a roof level plant (total height 170m AOD), a flexible retail/café and restaurant uses at ground floor level and café/restaurant with roof terrace overlooking Fenchurch Street. The total size of the building is 910,000 sq ft, split between 890,000 sq ft office and c. 20,000 sq ft retail. As part of the design by Make architects; a grade II listed building at 19-21 Billiter Street, built in 1865, will be restored and integrated into the proposed scheme. More →

February 24, 2014

London conference debates international office measurement standard

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

The implementation of an international property measurement standard for offices (IPMS for Offices) moved forward last week when a group of leading professional bodies from across the world met at RICS’ HQ in London. The two-day meeting (20-21 Feb 2014) brought together representatives from many of the 31 member organisations of the International Property Measurement Standard Coalition (IPMSC), who discussed plans for the launch and implementation of IPMS across international real estate markets. A rise in cross-border property investment and expansion by global corporate occupiers has exposed the difficulties that can arise when dealing with differing national and local measurement practices. The first of its kind, IPMS seeks to standardise the way office space is measured around the world. More →

February 19, 2014

London’s West End retains position as world’s most expensive office location

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

World’s most expensive location

For the second year running, the most expensive office space in the world is to be found in London’s West End, according to the latest edition of Cushman & Wakefield’s annual Office Space Across the World report. Rents rose by 5 percent in the area, driven largely by an ongoing mismatch between demand for high grade space and its supply, as we have previously reported. Worldwide, office rents rose by 3 percent in 2013, with certain high growth regions such as Africa and the Middle East experiencing an increase in rents of as much as 10 percent in specific locations. Hong Kong was the second most expensive location according to the survey while the central business district of Moscow rose to third place, up from sixth in the previous survey.

February 6, 2014

London office rents are set to reach historic high by 2018

by Sara Bean • News, Property

London office rents are set to reach an historic high by 2018, fuelled by demand from the technology, media and telecoms (TMT) sector. Demand for office space by technology and media firms across central London was more than double of the finance sector in 2013, with major deals signed by Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, News Corp, and Ogilvy & Mather. According to data from Knight Frank, record levels of overseas investment are helping London build its reputation as a global hub. Geographically, it is not just the City and the West End that are seeing a massive surge in demand; take-up in Docklands increased by nearly 20 per cent last year, while completely new districts are emerging which include London Bridge, Battersea and Nine Elms. More →

February 4, 2014

Oil and gas firm moves in as regeneration of London’s Victoria area continues

by Sara Bean • Company news, Property

The regeneration of London’s Victoria area continues with the news that Land Securities has let a further 18,000 sq ft at its 123 Victoria Street SW1 development. Oil and gas exploration company Ophir Energy PLC is relocating from its Mayfair headquarters to join existing tenants such as US software company Intuit, CDC Group, CPA Global and Jimmy Choo. This latest letting means 123 Victoria Street is now 93 per cent let with just 17,000 sq ft still available. Kaela Fenn-Smith, Head of Leasing at Land Securities, said: “We are delighted to welcome Ophir Energy to 123 Victoria Street. Their decision to move from Mayfair and choose Victoria as their new home reflects the area’s ever-increasing reputation as a vibrant destination for forward-thinking companies.” More →

January 8, 2014

CBI to embrace open plan working at new London HQ

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Facilities management, News, Workplace design

The CBI is to move its headquarters to new offices in Cannon Street, London, after more than 30 years at its present Centre Point home, which is to be converted into apartments. Staff at the UK’s leading business organisation will make the switch from the multi floor office layouts of the 1960s built tower to an open plan 25,000 sq ft space when they move into the fourth floor of the eight-floored Cannon Place development in the spring. The CBI director-general, John Cridland, said he was looking forward to the move to the new offices, on which the organisation has signed a 15-year lease and invited its members to make use of a dedicated member’s lounge at the new London HQ to meet their clients and CBI staff. More →

January 2, 2014

Take up of office space in Central London at highest level in six years

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Take-up of office space in Central London was almost 11m sq ft in 2013, way above the 2012 figure of 7.3m sq ft and an increase of more than 50 per cent year-on-year. According to the latest figures from Cushman & Wakefield, leasing activity to December increased across all Central London markets, with transaction volumes 22 per cent above the five-year average. It says that the number of transactions over 50,000 sq ft was a major driver of leasing volumes, with 30 deals signed during 2013 – the highest number since 2007. The Media and Technology sector saw most activity across Central London, accounting for 36 per cent of all letting volumes in 2013, up from 23 per cent in the preceding two years. More →

December 12, 2013

The creative talent in the UK’s regions (other than London) is quietly thriving

by Charles Marks • Comment, Property, Technology, Workplace

We can now be very confident that the UK economy is on an enduring upward path. We can also be sure that the UK that emerges from five years of recession will be very different to the one that entered it. And on that score things look pretty promising too, because we have the skills and talent needed in some of the world’s most in-demand sectors such as digital media, banking, software development, telecoms and publishing. In fact a recent report from Deloitte says that London employs more people in these and similar knowledge-based sectors than any other country in the world. But while London has an inevitable tendency to grab these sorts of headlines, it’s also great to acknowledge that London doesn’t have a monopoly on this pool of talent, and may even be less attractive as a base for some firms.

December 10, 2013

Sale of premier real estate portfolio More London announced

by Sara Bean • Company news, News, Property

More London has been sold to Kuwaiti firm St Martins Property Group for approximately £1.7 billion, according to Reuter’s sources. Owners London Bridge Holdings said it had originally intended to refinance More London (which is located adjacent to Tower Bridge and opposite The Tower of London), by the early summer of 2014 but had been persuaded to capitalize on “a highly attractive offer,” the details of which it has not yet disclosed. In a statement London Bridge Holdings said the transaction had underscored its success in transforming “a blighted, brown field site into a vibrant and vital global business centre.” The site was acquired in 1998 and is now a fully managed estate, with occupiers that include the Greater London Assembly – housed in City Hall, as well as PwC and Ernst and Young.