Posted on May 4, 2011 by John Cronin
Refurbishment works are underway at a listed office building in Manchester city centre.
The imposing building at 41 Spring Gardens, originally constructed in 1890, is to undergo a complete refurbishment programme. To honour the original architect, the building is to be renamed as Waterhouse. Alfred Waterhouse was a noted architect who designed several Manchester landmark buildings including the Grade I Listed Manchester Town Hall.
The works are being funded by the property freeholders, Birkenhead-based Associated Property Owners. It is suggested that the scheme is the first entirely office-led redevelopment in central Manchester for nearly 3 years. The work is being undertaken by office fit-out specialists Claremont Group.
Construction work on the 17,000 sq ft building is scheduled to be completed by July and the speculative scheme will be marketed from September. The offices will be available to let on either a whole building basis or as flexible office suites starting at 650 sq ft. Whole floors at approximately 3,700 sq ft are also available. The quoted rental price is from £23.50 / sq ft.
The building is located at the top of King Street in the heart of the commercial district of Manchester city centre. This popular area of the Manchester offices market has seen several multi-million pounds deals over the last 12-18 months. In February, the nearby Ship Canal House building was sold in a £23m deal. Headline rents at the offices are around £28 / sq ft.
Peter Gallagher, partner at marketing agent p3 property consultants comments: “City centre offices in Manchester combining an elegantly contemporary feel with a real touch of classic character, really don’t get much better than this.”
The other joint marketing agent for the Waterhouse scheme is BNP Paribas.
Posted in Manchester |
Tagged Renovations, Rental Prices |
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Posted on May 3, 2011 by John Cronin
A contentious development of flats and an office block in Ayr has been rejected by local councillors.
The plans submitted by R & R Investments for 30 flats and a 4-storey office block on a site known as Plot 9, The Citadel Esplanade, Ayr were previously backed by South Ayrshire Council officials. However, the plans were thrown out by councillors at the recent planning meeting.
The proposed apartments and office block (pictured) have been proposed for a site of historical importance. The sea front location was once home to a Citadel Fort.
Having been invited to comment on the proposals, Historic Scotland indicated that they were “not minded to object” to the development.
The site, which has been put up for sale by South Ayrshire Council, has seen other unsuccessful development proposals. Proposals for a 65,000 sq ft, 2-storey leisure facility including an arcade and a cinema were not considered to be viable. R & R Investments were subsequently chosen as preferred developer.
The planned 4-storey office block offers approximately 38,300 sq ft of open-plan floor space. Each floor of the office block can be subdivided to create 3 separate office suites per floor. A central services “core” would provide each office floor with toilets and service facilities.
Local residents association Fort Residents Association objected to the proposals. They were joined by Ayr parliamentary candidate John Scott who commented upon the unanimous decision to reject the plans: “This is a very welcome decision by the regulatory panel which reflects the strong view of local people that the building of more flats and office space would be wholly the wrong type of development in this area.”
It is not known if the developers or their agents Graham & Sibbald will appeal against the decision.
Posted in South Ayrshire |
Tagged Planning, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on April 28, 2011 by John Cronin
Developers are pressing ahead with an approved development of offices in Chalfont St Peter despite concerns from residents.
Barwood Developments are scheduled to start construction works in June on new office blocks at their Chiltern Park scheme (pictured) in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire. Despite being granted full planning permission for the revised scheme at the end of March, local residents are still voicing concern about the development.
Local resident Phillipa Yates has expressed concern about increased traffic in the vicinity and also says: “There’s also no guarantee that it will benefit the economy of Chalfont St Peter. It feels like the views of residents haven’t been considered.”
A local action group called Sense 4 CSP had previously organised an unsuccessful campaign to attempt to block the development by encouraging residents to write letters of objection.
A 31,500 sq ft office block, known as Europa House, has already been completed and has been occupied by RWS Group since January 2011. The firm relocated over 250 staff from other offices in Gerrards Cross and London.
A further 3 office buildings are set to built on the Chiltern Park site. Pre-let agreements have been secured for 2 buildings with light manufacturer Zumbotel and imports company Rhone Products.
The 3 new buildings will offer total floor space amounting to just under 43,000 sq ft. This figure is approximately 700 sq ft less than the original plans for 2 new buildings. Two of the new buildings are expected to achieve BREEAM ratings of “Excellent” and the other a rating of “Very Good”.
The new offices are expected to be completed by June, 2012.
Barwood Developments have been advised by planning consultants PRC Group.
Posted in Buckinghamshire |
Tagged Business Parks, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on April 27, 2011 by John Cronin
A listed property investment company has purchased a City of London office scheme in a multi-million pound deal announced this morning.
London & Stamford plc has announced to the stock market it has purchased the long leasehold of One Carter Lane for £75m.
The building (pictured) is located in the heart of the City, immediately to the south of of St Paul’s Cathedral. As part of the transaction, London & Stamford have also purchased the adjacent bar and restaurant building 2 Old Change Court.
The offices offer a total of 125,844 sq ft of floor space and there is approximately 6,800 sq ft of retail space. The principal tenant is Goldman Sachs International whose lease expires in 2018, with a break clause due in March 2013.
The current rental income amounts to £5.814m per year of which 97% is received from Goldman Sachs. The buildings, previously owned by UBS Triton Property Fund were marketed at £72m following an inspection report by survey specialists Trident.
Raymond Mould, Chairman of London & Stamford Property, said: “..we are delighted to have acquired this prime, City of London property producing a relatively high net initial yield reflective of the nature of the investment.”
Following the demolition of existing buildings, One Carter Lane was completed in December 1997 by developers MEPC. Goldman Sachs International agreed to a 20-year lease in March 1998 at a rental price of £47 / sq ft following an initial 15-month rent free period.
London & Stamford have purchased the leasehold that has 136 years unexpired and the transaction reflects a net initial yield of 7.33%.
Posted in London |
Tagged Renovations, Rental Prices, Transactions |
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Posted on April 26, 2011 by John Cronin
A large, multi-let office scheme in Derby city centre has been put up for sale with an asking price of £11m.
The Heritage Gate scheme (pictured) is a 3-building development used as multi-let office accommodation. Total floor space amounts to approximately 140,000 sq ft and the development is considered to be the largest, city centre Derby office scheme. The development also includes 7 retail units and generous car-parking space.
Originally constructed in the 1970s for the city council, the offices are now multi-let. The 3 buildings that make up Heritage Gate are called Celtic House, Norman House and Saxon House. Derby Council is the principal tenant, occupying some 70% of Heritage Gate on a lease that expires in December, 2013. The other significant tenant is law firm Smith Partnership, occupying approximately 10% of the floor space.
Typical agreed rental prices for office suites are in the range £8 / sq ft to £10 / sq ft. At the asking price of £11m the rental income would give a yield of 12.30%. The scheme is being marketed on the assumption that new owners will undertake a refurbishment programme and develop an empty piece of land included in the sale.
Nick Hosking, director of joint marketing agent Innes England said: “For the last two decades Heritage Gate has been without question the most successful multi-let office complex within the city. The scheme has performed well because it offers good-quality flexible accommodation in a range of sizes and crucially benefits from a very high on-site car parking ratio complemented by secure basement parking.”
Heritage Gate is currently owned by Aviva Life and Pensions. Aviva had previously proposed to demolish Celtic House and Saxon House and replace the buildings with 2 new commercial developments (.pdf link).
The other joint agent for the scheme is GVA.
Posted in Derbyshire |
Tagged Renovations, Rental Prices, Serviced Offices |
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Posted on April 22, 2011 by John Cronin
The former headquarters of music publishers EMI have been acquired by developers who plan to rejuvenate the site.
The 18-acre site known as the London Gate Business Park, in Hayes, Middlesex has been purchased by Cathedral Group and Development Securities. The firms have a created a joint venture called Purplexed LLP that has purchased the site from The Blackstone Group in an undisclosed cash deal. Plans for a £250m redevelopment programme are expected to be published in the near future.
The sprawling development was once home to record label EMI who had various manufacturing facilities alongside their head offices. During the 1960s, 14,000 people worked for EMI at the site.
The site (pictured – source) offers approximately 700,000 sq ft of floor space across a mix of new and old buildings, many of which are unoccupied.
John Robertson Architects have previously produced a master plan for the site. Number 1 London Gate was one of the first buildings to be developed in to speculative office accommodation. Rental prices at the building and at new buildings 2 and 3 are quoted at between £25.50 / sq ft and £27.50 /sq ft. The 7-storey Building 2 was completed in 2000 and offers approximately 286,000 sq ft of floor space.
The new owners are planning a complete renovation of the site. Richard Upton, Chief Executive, Cathedral Group plc said: “It’s time for a new approach to the bland and tired business parks West of London.”
Matthew Weiner, Executive Director, Development Securities plc commented: “The site in Hayes has enormous potential for growth and we look forward to seeing this project through to completion.”
Posted in Middlesex |
Tagged Business Parks, Renovations, Rental Prices, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on April 21, 2011 by John Cronin
A planning application for office blocks at the Greengate Embankment scheme in Salford has been submitted.
Construction company Ask Developments, working in partnership with land owners Network Rail, has submitted a planning application for full permission for a 10-storey office block and outline permission for a 9-storey office block. The application is also for listed building consent for the partial demolition of a railway viaduct.
The offices are the 1st phase of the proposed Greengate Embankment (pictured) development, a mixed-use scheme that will include retail space, leisure units and a car park that has already been pre-let to Q-Park.
The 10-storey office building will offer 196,000 sq ft of floor space and will be named 101 Embankment. Salford City Council has agreed to guarantee 50% of the rent for a period of 10 years even though it does not plan to occupy the offices.
Alan Burke, director at Ask Developments, says: “The continued strength of the occupier market in [Manchester] and the lack of new Grade A space available from 2013 gives us confidence that now is the right time to be planning speculative development”.
Phase 1 of the scheme is a business district to be called The Exchange. Predominately consisting of office accommodation along with street level retail units, the area will offer approximately 400,000 sq ft of Grade A office floor space. The site used to be the former Exchange railway station that once had the longest platform in the world.
The North West Development Agency has previously contributed almost £5m to fund public realm improvements at the brownfield site that covers some 13 hectares.
Architects for the scheme are BFLS London.
Posted in Manchester |
Tagged Demolitions, Planning, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on April 20, 2011 by John Cronin
A speculative office scheme in Covent Garden, London is now fully occupied following a lease deal with technology giant Apple.
Apple has agreed a 15-year lease on the remaining 7,181 sq ft of floor space at 10 Slingsby Place, St Martins’s Courtyard, a mixed-use development in Covent Garden. Apple has agreed to let the office space on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building. Market reports indicate that a rental price of £52 / sq ft has been agreed. Apple also has office space of more than 50,000 sq ft at the prestigious 67,000 sq ft One Hanover Street office scheme in Mayfair.
St Martin’s Courtyard (pictured) is a mixed-use development on a site covering about 2-acres and includes 101,000 sq ft of offices, 70,000 sq ft of retail space, 8 restaurants and residential apartments.
The speculative £100m development is a joint venture between Shaftesbury plc and The Mercers Company. The majority of the office accommodation was pre-let ahead of the scheme completion in late 2010. At the of September, 2010 76% of the offices had been let.
Other office tenants include healthcare company, PZ Cussons plc and recruitment consultants, Robert Walters who agreed a pre-let deal on 43,000 sq ft of floor space at 11 Slingsby Place. Private equity company August Equity have leased the 4,842-sq ft first floor of 10 Slingsby Place.
Shaftesbury plc Director, Simon Quayle, commented: “We are delighted to have attracted occupiers of the calibre of Apple, Robert Walters, PZ Cussons and August Equity to St Martin’s Courtyard”.
Marketing agents for the offices were H2SO and E.A. Shaw.
Posted in London |
Tagged Rental Prices, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on April 19, 2011 by John Cronin
A new research report indicates that office lettings in West London and the Thames Valley are up nearly 50% year on year.
In new research published by commercial agents Jones Lang Lasalle, lease data indicates that office lettings for the first 3 months of 2011 are broadly in line with the final quarter of 2010 but up 48% compared with the 1st quarter of 2010. The research report covers an area known as the Western Corridor which includes the sub markets of West London and the Thames Valley.
Lettings of approximately 393,000 sq ft of office space were secured during the 1st quarter of 2011, including a number of significant deals.
Software giant Adobe Systems signed for 49,500 sq ft of floor space at the Grade A, 75,000 sq ft Market House office scheme in Maidenhead (pictured) and BP took 36,400 sq ft of floor space at 5 The Square, Stockley Park.
Jones Lang Lasalle forecast that just over 2million sq ft of office space within the region will be let in 2011, broadly similar to letting volumes achieved in 2010. The reports notes that lettings between town centres and out-of-town locations have been evenly spread in 2011. James Finnis, head of Jones Lang LaSalle national offices team says: “Occupiers continued to favour Grade A space, with many taking advantage of the opportunity to upgrade. Grade A take-up accounted for over 245,000 sq ft – nearly two thirds compared with an average of nearer half.”
Driven by demand for offices in Windsor and Chiswick, rental prices during the quarter increased by 0.8% across the Western Corridor market. Jones Lang LaSalle expects an annual rental price growth of 3.6%, giving an average prime rent for the region of around £28.40 by the end of 2011.
Posted in London |
Tagged Rental Prices, Research, Transactions |
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Posted on April 18, 2011 by John Cronin
An office scheme at a business park in Sheffield that is popular with the digital media industry is now fully let following the signing of new tenants.
Ventana House (pictured) at the Sheffield Digital Campus is now running at full occupancy after lettings with Sky, Michael Page and Coal Pension Trustees Services have been secured.
The 5-storey, Grade A office complex offers 50,000 sq ft of floor space. Sky, the subscription TV giant, has become the major tenant after signing for 23,571 sq ft of floor space. Kennedys, a national law firm, had previously let 17,000 sq ft of floor space in July 2010. Recruitment consultancy Michael Page has signed for 2,932 sq ft and 5,779 sq ft has been let to Coal Pension Trustees Services. Rental prices for the latest letting have not been disclosed. Kennedys agreed to a headline rental price of £20 / sq ft for their 16-year lease.
Sheffield Digital Campus has the potential to offer approximately 600,000 sq ft of office accommodation. Ventana House, originally called Building Two, is a phase 1 building constructed alongside the Electric Works complex.
The Electric Works offers flexible and serviced office accommodation ranging in size from single workstation options up to suites of 5,000 sq ft. Smaller suites are available on flexible lease arrangements while the semi-serviced, larger units are available on 3 or 5 year leases.
Demand for offices within the Sheffield Digital Campus is reported to be “higher now than ever before”. Toby Hyam, MD of Creative Space Management who mananage the Electric Works also comments: “Despite these challenging conditions, it is impressive to see businesses investing in new workspace, both to improve their competitive edge.”
Marketing agents for Sheffield Digital Campus include Knight Frank and LSH.
Posted in South Yorkshire |
Tagged Business Parks, Rental Prices, Serviced Offices, Speculative Developments |
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