Posted on September 28, 2011 by John Cronin
Commercial property investors CLS Holdings plc has announced the purchase of two adjacent office blocks in Hounslow.
CLS Holdings (CLS) has completed a £5.5m acquisition of the two office buildings on Staines Road, Hounslow. Falcon House (pictured) and Quest House are both multi-let to a range of blue-chip tenants.
Falcon House is a modern, five-storey office building with floor plates of between 6,183 sq ft to 10,263 sq ft. Total floor space is 25,036 sq ft. One floor of the building remains unoccupied.
Quest House, previously known as Nixdorf, is a 1970’s, five-storey building offering total floor space of 25,584 sq ft. The building is currently running at full occupancy. Previously quoted rental prices have been £15 / sq ft and current rental income equates to an average of £13.95 / sq ft. The building is multi-let on 5-year leases. Tenants at the offices include airlines Aer Lingus and Alitalia and network provider Telefonica O2.
The two Hounslow offices were part of a larger property portfolio managed by Glebe Holdings. Glebe also owns Ashley House in Hounslow, a mixed-use retail and office building totalling just over 18,100 sq ft. One suite of 440 sq ft remains unoccupied with short-term lease agreements available.
Commenting on the acquisition, Sten Mortstedt, Executive Chairman of CLS Holdings plc, said: “[This acquisition continues] our strategy of focusing on high yielding, cost effective offices that provides us with reliable diversified cash flow from solid tenants. Being well financed places us in a very strong position to take advantage of the current market conditions for this type of acquisition”.
Last November CLS purchased a second office building in New Malden for in excess of £21m.
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Tagged Rental Prices, Transactions |
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Posted on September 27, 2011 by Nell Frizzell
According to willowy Welsh wonkatron Evan Davis this week’s “Anxious entrepreneurs are ready and waiting.” It’s like Stockholm Syndrome isn’t it? Well, Stockholm Sydrome as designed and decorated by an industrial storage unit.
First up is entrepreneur and ex-police officer Michelle Savage. Michelle is looking for £50,000 in exchange for 20% ownership of her business. And her business? Auto voodoo, if her admission that she used to stick pins in to her own eyes is anything to go by.
In fact, Michelle has actually invented something called a Savvylash, which sounds a bit like some sort of douche but is in fact a plastic stick that ‘safely and hygienically separates the eyelashes’. From each other of course, not from your face – that particular tool is called a tweezer.
So desperate is Michelle to isolate the eyelashes of the nation that she’s brought her daughter in for a little live ocular torture. “Would anyone like to come up and have a look at Aleesha’s eyelashes?” It’s the kind of offer than Hilary simply cannot turn down.
However, Michelle’s passion alone appears not to be enough to convince the finger-twitching Deborah Meaden. “I guarantee you that everyone who comes in here believes in their product,” Deborah sneers.
“There are people here who know more about makeup than I will ever know,” says Duncan Bannatyne rather coyly in my opinion. I mean, looking at him, this isn’t a man adverse to cosmetic treatments.
“Why isn’t this in Boots?” asks Theo, which is a little like asking a penguin why they aren’t flying or an orange why it isn’t purple. At least Peter Jones is on hand to offer the rather more practical advice that Michelle could sell directly to the manufacturer who can then give it away for free.
“This could be one of the bestselling make up products that’s ever been sold,” says Hilary, “but not in its current form.” She’s such a tease.
Next on to our screens is Shropshire-based John Richardson who is sharking for £75,000 investment in his skin product. It’s “For women who don’t want their faces injected,” and funnily enough, Hilary Devey doesn’t seem terribly interested. Who would have thought it?
John is swiftly followed by Julian Lipton from Watford, who is pitching on behalf of his existing business, The Nuttery. Not, as I’d hoped, an asylum, The Nuttery produces ‘a cage within a cage’ birdfeeders and is looking for £100,000 investment in exchange for 15% ownership. A cage within a cage: the very device that sparked the vicious civil war between birds and squirrels. Now, The Nuttery has a patchy financial history to say the least, not to mention the fact that in two years their patent will expire like a hungry squirrel on a sheet of ice.
“I have got the biggest collection of bird feeders in the country,” responds the typically restrained Deborah, before withdrawing support on account of the rather immature approach of Julian. “Commercially it’s not a route I’d want to walk down,” agrees Hilary, leaving Julian with little to show for his adventure other than a huge cardboard cut-out of a bird and one hell of an anecdote about meeting the owner of Britain’s largest collection of bird feeders.
Glaswegian Fraser Sinnot wanted to manufacture a coin-operated mobility vehicle to help people with their shopping, but was rather shot down in flames by Hilary’s recollections about her mother’s great battalion of the things. God knows what she was using them for. Drag races, probably.
Next up is unemployed entrepreneur Nathan Pearson who has created something called the Romeo shelf, which attaches to most Juliet balconies. Nathan has apparently already turned up pissed, holding an empty bottle and glass and tearing at the furniture. Oh no, sorry, this is the big reveal. Of what is basically a very tiny fold-up shelf, suitable for single wine bottles and, if you’re really lucky, a single peanut.
Listening to Nathan recount his tales of working in hazardous waste is a little like watching a puppy in a suit get dangled off a balcony. Still, the sympathy of the Dragons doesn’t last long. “You’ve come in to the den with a deal that irritates,” says Theo, before pulling out. As does Deborah and Peter Jones. Hilary then wades in with the rather retro suggestion that Nathan should his extend his one bottle flap in to a “buffet shelf” whatever in the name of scotch eggs that is.
The inventors William and Keith present a brilliant new macbook-style pull-out wall plug and socket. You can imagine the adverts now, can’t you? “I’m a William. I’m a Keith!” But, although this is certainly a better product than the existing option, it is seen by the Dragons as too great a challenge.”You’re trying to climb Mount Everest in your flip flops,” as the beautifully lyrical Theo Pathites puts it.
Finally, we have London business women Andrea McDowell and Rebecca Baldwin who are pitching for their DIY wedding video company Shoot It. Andrea and Rebecca want 60,000 in return for 20% to expand their business and invest in more equipment.
If a DIY wedding video sounds a little like a Dig It Yourself Grave, Andrea and Rebecca are on hand to sing the praises of this cheap and creative idea. Shoot It Yourself hire out broadcast-quality video cameras, let the guests film the kind of intimate, silly and funny stuff that only your ex boyfriend/ drunk auntie could think was a good idea and then they then edit it for you professionally. It is “a cheaper, more fun alternative,” according to the pitch.
Hilary is so impressed that she immediately offers the full amount for 26% without even listening to the other dragons. Apparently 230,000 people are getting married each year. That’s a lot of shit discos and inedible cake. Not to mention a lot of wonga off the back of this wedding video idea. Hilary so effectively outmanoeuvres the other dragons that she doesn’t even need to budge on 26%, and she is accepted. White taffeta high fives all round.
So, there we are: peepers, plugs, peckers and marital piss ups. See you all next week!
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Tagged Dragons' Den Blog |
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Posted on September 26, 2011 by John Cronin
A former cinema in Brighton is set to demolished and replaced with offices after planning officers approved the scheme.
The former Astoria cinema in Gloucester Place, Brighton is to be demolished and replaced with a six-storey, “media hub” development (pictured).
The Grade II Listed building, purchased by local businessman Mike Holland for £2.2m, has stood vacant since 1997 when it was last used as a bingo hall. While some local residents believed the building should be restored, others have called it an “eyesore”.
H30 Media Ltd, a company belonging to Mr Holland plans to develop an energy-efficient, mixed-use building that will incorporate a cafe and shared amenity space at ground floor level along with flexible office space and enterprise units. The building will be constructed using a range of sustainable building techniques including rainwater harvesting, solar shading and natural ventilation. The speculative scheme is expected to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating and is expected to be the most eco-friendly office building in Brighton.
Architects for the scheme Conran & Partners indicate that the development is to be aimed at the arts and creative businesses in the city. The ground floor will offer six serviced business units of approximately 645 sq ft along with meeting rooms and a shared reception. The five upper floors will offer office space ranging in size from 4,887 sq ft up to 5,393 sq ft.
Paul Zara, Director at Conran & Partners believes the development will give economic and regeneration benefits to the local North Laine and London Road community and Brighton as a whole. Mr Zara suggests the scheme is: “intended as a symbol of optimism for the future of the city.”
Posted in East Sussex |
Tagged Demolitions, Listed Buildings, Serviced Offices, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on September 23, 2011 by John Cronin
Developers have submitted plans for an office development on the site of a former bar in the Quayside area of Newcastle.
Owners of the former Stereo Bar, Tokyo Industries, want to demolish the existing building and replace with it a modern, eco-friendly one (artists impression pictured).
The proposed five-storey, oval building will offer commercial office space along with a retail unit suitable for use as a restaurant. Floor plates for office space will range in size between 7,125 sq ft and 7,580 sq ft.
In 2008 two redevelopment proposals were considered for the Stereo Bar site. An initial design for a larger, seven-storey office building was dismissed after feedback from the council and English Heritage. The larger building was considered to have too great an impact on the setting of the nearby Grade II Listed Keelman’s Hospital.
Architects Surface Light Space have designed a futuristic, oval-shaped building that will incorporate several energy efficient measures including natural ventilation and lighting, rain-water recycling and a partial, green roof. The building could expect to achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’.
The site of the bar, which suffered a fire last year, is located toward the edge of the Eastern Quayside development. The area is a mix of refurbished warehouses and new-builds and around 60% of the total floor space is used as commercial office accommodation.
Rob Cameron, MD of Tokyo Industries, believes there is sufficient demand to justify the speculative development. Commenting on the proposal Mr Cameron said: “Only last week an article in the local press expressed concern over the lack of high quality office space being brought forward in the city.”
Local residents have until 28th September to submit letters in favour of or against the planning application.
Posted in Tyne and Wear |
Tagged Demolitions, Listed Buildings, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on September 21, 2011 by John Cronin
A real estate fund has made a significant investment in Manchester with a multi-million pound purchase of a landmark office building.
Europa Capital LLP (Europa) has purchased two buildings in city-centre Manchester, one of which being the One Piccadilly Gardens office development (pictured – image credit). Europa has also purchased a retail unit known as The Pavillion.
Europa has purchased the buildings from a private investor in an off-market transaction worth £67m. The purchase is a joint venture with property investor Paul Parkinson.
One Piccadilly Gardens was constructed by Argent in 2003 as part of their Piccadilly Place mixed-use development. One Piccadilly Gardens is a six-floor red brick building offering in excess of 167,000 sq ft of floor space of which 150,000 sq ft is Grade A office accommodation. The multi-let scheme is running at full occupancy and tenants include Bank of New York, insurers Allianz Cornhill and property agents King Sturge. Bank of New York are the significant tenant having taken over 90,000 sq ft.
Europa believes the purchase gives them a safe, long-term investment. Commenting on the transaction, Sandra Capan said: “One Piccadilly Gardens represents a good opportunity to acquire a modern, multi-let, office building at an attractive yield. The deal is in line with the Europa’s strategy of identifying well-located core assets in regional cities with a strong tenant mix but still with potential for active asset management.”
Only last month Europa invested £65m acquiring a portfolio office properties in a joint venture with Ediston Properties. The portfolio consists of seven office-based properties across the UK, offering total floor space of 316,000 sq ft.
Europa were advised by Savills.
Posted in Manchester |
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Posted on September 20, 2011 by Rob Powell
i2 Office is planning to open new serviced offices on the Greenwich Peninsula.
The fast expanding office provider has leased over 10,000 square feet of prime office space at 6 Mitre Passage (picture above, right).
The offices on the building’s 8th floor will offer superb views across the Thames and are just a stone’s throw from The O2, formerly known as the Millennium Dome.
Philip Grace, CEO of i2 Office, commented; “We believe that Greenwich Peninsula is going to be an attractive location for many businesses and are delighted with the new space, which will be available from November 2011.
“Not only is the area benefitting from major infrastructure investment but the attention to detail in terms of energy management, carbon footprint and the overall sustainability of the building combined with the latest in high speed IT solutions will make these facilities very attractive for organisations seeking more than just ‘modern, functional office space’.”
Offices in the building are also available from the local council’s Digital Enterprise centre.
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Posted on September 20, 2011 by Nell Frizzell
Welcome to the Dragons’ Den: the only place on earth where five people in business suits standing on the edge of a sky scraper isn’t considered cause for alarm.
Our first pair of pitchers are the 18 year old whippersnappers Ryan Ashmore and Liam Webb who run the RKA record label, as well as tying their ties according to the Freudian football method: huge knots, massive girth and danglingly thick.
Ryan and Liam are looking for £50,000 investment in exchange for a 15% share. If you think 15% sounds a little small, consider the fact that RKA only give their artists 20% of their earnings, pocketing the other 80%. That’s label spelled p.i.m.p.
After looking at some photos of RKA’s ‘artists’ that I can only assume are screengrabs from mysinglefriend.com the dragons enjoy a 67-second buttock-clenchingly awkward medley of ipod choonz. As they say on Tin Pan Alley – if 8 seconds of poorly amplified pop in a tv studio can’t sell an artist, then nothing can.
Surprisingly, for two 18 –year-old boys, Liam and Ryan spend a lot of time in their bedrooms, where RKA is based. They have “overheads of about £2.80” apparently. Is that really how much a pot noodle supper costs these days? That’s inflation for you.
“This is one of the hardest industries to crack,” warns Peter Jones. In fact, all the dragons seem reluctant to invest, apart from Duncan Bannatyne who makes the rather bold offer of 79% ownership. And god bless their little shiny suits, RKA records actually accept.
Hoses, trumpets, indoor ski-ing: I do love the intermediary footage between each pitch. What could possibly come next? A woman called Yasmin Hossain, apparently, who’s brought in two young boys who are playing with their tiny little balls. How nice.
Next up is the marketing entrepreneur Richard Williams and he’s brought Colonel Sanders with him. Oh, okay, fine it’s not the Colonel. It’s Gill Estrander and they’re here to pitch some sort of Realtor Network. Poor old Richard is breathing like a beagle on a chatline and I have absolutely no idea what Gill is talking about. Still, I like his spunk. “The enigmatic entrepreneurs seem only to have confounded the Dragons,” says Evan Davis. Well, let’s see; there’s definitely talk of ‘agents’ and ‘networks’ so I can only assume these two heavy breathers are MI5’s most unlikely spies.
As we’ve seen before, all five dragons pretty much explode any time someone tries to talk to them. So, faced with the determination of Colonel Sanders, it’s a miracle they didn’t all just turn tail and flee to the nearest Franciscan monastery. Personally, I was just waiting for the Colonel to start throwing batter in Peter Jones’ eyes.
“The beast doesn’t change. And when it’s hungry, it wants feeding.” I have no idea what Hilary is talking about, but by god am I going to invest in some monster snacks tomorrow.
“Businesses don’t fail – people fail. Airplanes don’t crash – pilots do,” signs off Colonel Sanders. Entrepreneurs don’t lose pitches – retail-trading chicken magnates do.
After a doomed but mercifully short swing by some ungodly foodstuff called the Haggisdog we move on to a “women’s fashion piece” designed by Michelle and Steve Ellis. What could it be? Bonnets? Side saddles? Pinafores?
Not quite. Michelle and Steve’s business Fat Frocks is looking for an investor for Wingz. Not, as you may suspect, a sequined sanitary towel, Wingz are basically undersleeves for the biceply challenged. To paraphrase Theo Paphitis, imagine a sari blouse, but with pillow cases for sleeves. The profit margin is pretty good – from £2.80 cost, each pair of Wingz is sold on for £14.99.
Sadly, Deborah is out: announced in Deborah’s traditional style of a pitying smile and that idiosyncratic little movement she does with her hands. It looks like she’s trying to get chewing gum off the inside of a knuckle. Or, more likely, she’s physically itching to give someone the finger.
Unsurprisingly Hilary “Shoulders” Duvet likes the excess sleeve garment, but also finds herself unable to invest. As Paul McCartney (nearly) said, the life of Wingz is up and down.
Our final presentation comes from the dream team of Irish builder Aiden Quinn and Lancastrian interior decorator Gemma Roper. The pair are looking for £75,000 in exchange for a 15% share of Ecohab – their dome-shaped eco constructions that look almost exactly like beehives.
“This one is ideal for a family,” says Aiden, pointing to a 4cm high model. No it’s not Aiden – unless your family happen to be headed by Rick Moranis and you’re about to star in 80s classic Honey I Shrunk The Kids.
Actually, Aiden and Gemma are here to get investment for their eco pods – or ‘garden structures’ as they would like to be known.
“Peter Jones is not looking impressed,” says Evan. There’s a surprise. Despite the fact that “Some people find it incredibly attractive,” Peter Jones simply cannot warm to the wood-clad hive. Not petrol-powered enough for this particular magnate, I suppose.
“I’m all for green,” says Hilary Devey before going off on a pretty impressive rant about her domestic fishing lodge. I imagine this is where she hauls in a marlin, some great whites and a couple of humpback whales using just her shoulders pads as nets. Sadly, even her love of al fresco fishing can’t persuade the haulage high priestess to invest.
After a lot of extremely ballsy negotiating, Theo ends up offering Aiden and Gemma the full £75,000 but split in to a £37,500 equity and £37,500 interest free loan. Very clever.
And so we have come to the end: balls, beehives, bedroom records and some rather bonkers bar snacks. Have a lovely week!
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Posted on September 19, 2011 by John Cronin
A Birmingham-based commercial property investment company has acquired two more office buildings as part of a recent multi-million spend.
Real Estate Investors plc (REI) has announced that is has purchased three properties in transactions totalling more than £13m. Along with the purchase of Southgate Retail Park in Derby, REI has acquired two office-based schemes. The rental income from the buildings will increase the annual rent roll of REI to approximately £6.1m, a figure up 50% since the start of 2011.
REI has purchased Peat House (pictured – credit) from Aviva for £4.4m. Peat House is a prominent, Leicester office building that is fully-let to KPMG. The building offers approximately 43,400 sq ft of floor space over five floors and is let until 2015. The annual rental income of £510,225 equates to an approximate rental price of £11.75 / sq ft.
REI has also acquired a mixed-use building in Birmingham city-centre. Gateway House, also sold by Aviva, is a 27,000 sq ft property offering retail and office floor space. Purchased for £3.85m, the annual rental income for the seven-storey building amounts to £624,000 but this will rise once a tenant is found for an unoccupied office suite of just over 4,000 sq ft on the sixth floor.
REI now has several Birmingham-based office schemes in its portfolio including Cathedral Place, the former headquarters of the Birmingham Midshires Building Society. REI itself now occupies the third floor of the 13,000 sq ft building. Commenting on the latest acquisitions, Paul Bassi, CE of REI said: “These properties are prime, high quality ex-institutional assets that provide good rental income and significant scope for asset management initiatives that will enhance capital values.”
Posted in West Midlands |
Tagged Rental Prices, Transactions |
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Posted on September 16, 2011 by Rob Powell
The owner of the iconic Tower 42 in the City of London has put it up for sale with a price tag of £290 million.
The former Natwest Tower is one of a clutch of large office properties in the City which have been put on the market by Blackrock and LaSalle Investment Management.
Tower 42, which is at 25 Old Broad Street, was Britain’s tallest building throughout the 1980s following its completion at the start of the decade.
It was eventually overtaken by the One Canada Square tower in Canary Wharf.
The other office buildings in the City that Blackrock and LaSalle are selling are in Liverpool Street and Bishopsgate, with two more in Old Broad Street.
“With limited supply and increasing demand exerting upward pressure on rents in the City market, investors can anticipate strong returns and considerable long term growth potential,” said Jeff Morton, managing director at Blackrock.
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Posted on September 16, 2011 by John Cronin
Developers of an old London brewery and former offices of a music publishing company have secured new tenants following a renovation project.
The Phoenix Brewery (pictured – website) is a multi-let, Grade A office scheme located on Bramley Road within the London Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. The property was formerly known as the Chrysalis Building and was the headquarters of music publishing company Chrysalis.
Cube Real Estate (Cube RE) purchased the building in 2010 and have since undertaken a full refurbishment of the former Victorian warehouse. Having secured several new tenants including BMG Chrysalis, Live Nation Merchandise and Clearpoint Media the scheme is now running at an occupancy rate of 70%. Agreed rental prices have been in the range £26 – £29.50 / sq ft.
The refurbished building offers five floors of contemporary office accommodation, available to let as suites from 1,000 sq ft up to 20,000 sq ft. Approximately 8,000 sq ft of floor space remains available within the 28,000 sq ft building. The building offers offices on both Bramley Road and Freston Road. New tenant Live Nation Merchandise signed for 5,500 sq ft of floor space in July having been advised by commercial advisors Glinsman Weller.
Cube RE purchased the offices in May 2010 for £6.8m, which included an immediate leaseback to Chrysalis Music of four floors, totaling 8,559 sq ft at a rent of £250,000 on a five year lease.
Commenting on the redevelopment, Jonny Lawes of Cube RE said: “The contemporary offices retain the building’s original character which has proved popular with companies seeking an unusual and inspiring space”.
Architects for the scheme were Stiff & Trevillion. Joint marketing agents are Hanover Green and Pilcher Hersham.
Posted in London |
Tagged Renovations, Rental Prices, Speculative Developments |
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