Search Results for: real estate

February 20, 2014

European cities vie to wear Tech Hub crown

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Technology

You may not realise it, but apparently there is a close fought race being run between European cities for the title of European Tech Hub. According to a new report from Colliers International the front runners are London, Berlin, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Munich and, in a Eurovision-like extension of Europe’s borders, Tel Aviv. London is currently in pole position but Berlin and Dublin are hot on its heels as they vie for the title of Europe’s ‘Silicon Valley’, according to latest research from Colliers International, global real estate advisors. According to the report, London needs to stay on its toes if it is to fend off the upstarts from Germany and Ireland. Berlin, in particular, is expected to add some 100,000 jobs to its tech sector within the next seven years.

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January 23, 2014

UK commercial property investment in 2013 hits a six year high

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

Last year marked a six year high in commercial property investment across the UK according to a new report from property information providers CoStar, driven by increases in regional markets and a sharp upturn of interest in Central London from overseas investors. A total of £52.7 billion of transactions was completed across the UK in 2013, albeit that two-thirds of investments were made in London and the South East of England. It was also a year for record breaking deals, notably the Broadgate office development in the City (above) and More London on the South Bank, each of which were valued at £1.7 billion. London was particularly attractive for Asian investors who CoStar claim see it as a safe haven and invested £9.2bn, up 80.6 percent on 2012.

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January 13, 2014

Consultation begins on international commercial property standards

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace design

Today marks the beginning of the three month public consultation by the recently formed International Property Measurement Standards Coalition as the organisation seeks to develop standardised way of measuring commercial, domestic and retail property. Formed in May of last year, the IPMSC includes many of the world’s leading property institutions including the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) from the UK. The primary aim of the new body is to remove disparities between local property measurement standards by developing globally accepted standards to allow occupiers and investors to make better decisions about property. Research from Jones Lang LaSalle claims that currently a property’s floor area can vary by up to 24 percent depending on how it is measured.

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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…)

December 19, 2013

Team announced to review restoration needs of UNESCO World heritage site

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property, Public Sector

The House of Commons and House of Lords have announced the team which is to carry out an appraisal of the work that needs to be done to restore and repair one of Britain’s most iconic sites. The study will explore a number of ways in which Parliament can remain operational while implementing long overdue essential works to protect the Palace of Westminster, an important Grade I listed building and UNESCO World Heritage site. Deloitte Real Estate, AECOM and HOK have been chosen to undertake an Independent Options Appraisal as part of the Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Programme. The appraisal was commissioned following the publication of a study in 2012 which showed that, unless significant restoration work is undertaken, major, irreversible damage may be done to the Palace. (more…)

December 17, 2013

New survey reveals extent and nature of workplace change programmes

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Property

The newly published Workplace Transformation Survey from property consultancy Cushman and Wakefield begins with the now routine statement that “there is no doubt the corporate workplace is rapidly transforming”. So tell us something we don’t know – and in the subsequent report they pretty much do. That said, the methodology of the survey does skew the results by focussing on a particular part of the workplace elephant, because the report was compiled in conjunction with CoreNet Global, based on a questionnaire of over 500 occupiers and other participants from around the world taking part in events in Los Angeles, Amsterdam and Shanghai. So inevitably the results are weighted to at least some degree in favour of those with an interest in commercial property and the regions from which it draws its data. (more…)

December 11, 2013

Remarkable resurgence of confidence in the UK commercial property market

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

Edinburgh is one region enjoying a resurgence in confidence

The UK commercial property market is continuing its strong recovery, driven in large part by a resurgence in regional markets and financed by more adventurous borrowing by investors, a juxtaposition of three new reports reveals. According to Lloyds Bank’s twice yearly Commercial Property Confidence Monitor, around three quarters of the small and medium sized commercial property agents surveyed for the report expect a surge in activity over the next six months, led by especially strong confidence levels in Scotland, South West England, North West England and the Midlands. The results are mirrored in the latest Savills’ commercial development activity survey which found that the UK’s commercial sector grew at its fastest rate on record during November. Meanwhile, another report from Laxfield Capital claims that investors are willing to take on more debt for new deals to take advantage of the new confidence in the market.

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December 6, 2013

Don’t be caught by surprise by the hidden costs of commercial property

by Richenda Oldham • Comment, Facilities management, Knowledge, Property

According to Colliers International’s recent Global Investor Sentiment Report, 2014 will see an increase in commercial property investor confidence, with 74 per cent of UK based investors saying they were more likely to risk investing across all property sectors, although offices remain the most popular category to invest in. Yet despite this vote of confidence, it seems strange to report that the real costs involved in property acquisition and maintenance, are frequently overlooked by the purchasers. It appears that businesses often have a patchy knowledge of the range of costs involved in owning or leasing commercial real estate, which is surprising when you consider that a company’s biggest single investment next to its workforce is commercial property.

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December 1, 2013

Case study: dPOP’s jaw-dropping new offices light the road ahead for Detroit

by Rob Kirkbride • Case studies, Facilities management, Flooring, Furniture, Workplace design

If you think you know what’s going on in Detroit based on the stories of the city’s financial woes and pictures of some crumbling buildings, it is worth a visit to the offices of dPOP, the two month old design firm with origins in creating the award-winning office spaces for Quicken Loans and its family of companies.The design firm’s space in the basement of a long defunct Detroit bank embodies what being from the Motor City is all about — being tough, but talented; gritty yet glamorous; fun with a funky twist.They design like they don’t care what you think — and that might just be true. Their own offices and those they created for the 11,000 workers that were moved from divergent suburban sites to the center of Detroit are bold, bright and fun. Most of all fun. But the result is spectacular.

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November 29, 2013

Revival in UK commercial property driven by high tech enclaves such as Cambridge

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Technology

As we reported recently, it’s not just technology firms in London’s creaking digital enclaves that are driving recovery in the economy and commercial property markets. The UK is home to several hothouses of innovation and talent and the cluster of technology firms and related businesses in Cambridgeshire – inevitably Silicon Fen – are contributing to the highest level of commercial real estate activity in over six years, according to a survey we reported recently from property advisor Savills. The Cambridge arm of the firm is reporting that as well as new projects, schemes that were shelved during the recession are coming back online. Now in an interview in local magazine, Business Weekly, Savills has described how the national recovery is manifesting itself in one of the UK’s high tech hotspots.