Posted on October 3, 2010 by Rob Powell
A £60million investment will see a former car park in Dorchester turned into new offices, alongside the creation of shops, affordable homes and a hotel.
The controversial Charles Street Scheme was voted through by West Dorset councillors last week – with the council themselves set to relocate to the new office space once built.
The move by the council into the new offices will cost £11million, but leader of the council, Cllr Robert Gould, told the BBC: “Obviously there is a cost to moving, but the figures show that this will be outweighed by the significant fall in running costs.”
Critics of the large development called it a “monster” and expressed concerns about the loss of mature trees on the site, but with planning permission granted, work looks set to begin early next year.
Posted in Dorset |
Tagged Planning |
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Posted on October 1, 2010 by John Cronin
The Crown Estate has named the new office scheme that is being developed in Regent Street, London.
The new development has been named AirW1 and will offer approximately 200,000 sq ft of prime, Grade A office space when completed. Availability is currently timetabled for Q4, 2011. The offices are part of a mixed-use new development in the heart of London on the site of the former 94 year-old Regent Palace Hotel.
The listed hotel has been demolished and redeveloped in to a mixed-use building containing 7 floors of office space. Many of the existing historic facades are being repaired and retained, while four glamorous 1930s entertainment venues are being completely restored within the redevelopment. The development is currently the largest being undertaken in the West End.
The scheme, originally named the Quadrant 3 development, is being managed by Stanhope plc. Architects behind the development include Dixon Jones and Johnson Naylor. Strict planning conditions were imposed by heritage and planning bodies and the developers have agreed to create a 44,000 sq ft public realm area as part of the office development. Planning permission was granted in 2007 and permitted a maximum of 7 floors of offices in the main building with additional, smaller offices in The Prow with access from the Glasshouse Walk entrance.
The offices will be serviced by a high-tech energy centre installed on one of three basement levels in the Quadrant block. The energy centre will be powered by a cutting-edge hydrogen fuel cell – similar technology used to power space shuttles. As such a BREEAM rating of ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’ should be expected.
The Crown Estate reported in February 2010 that Regent Street is an international business destination and as a landlord it provides serviced offices to over 300 businesses. Forthcoming office space schemes known as projects W4 and W5 (south) have also been submitted to the planning authorities. The Crown Estate aims to redevelop these two office blocks with a £200 million scheme to deliver two new office buildings each offering in excess of 150,000 sq ft of world-class retail and office accommodation.
Marketing agents for the AirW1 scheme are CB Richard Ellis and Jones Lang LaSalle. Rental prices have not yet been made available.
Posted in London |
Tagged Listed Buildings, Planning, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on September 30, 2010 by John Cronin
Online train tickets retailer thetrainline.com has chosen to lease office space in a premium office development in Edinburgh.
The independent retailer of online train tickets has taken 12,000 sq ft of floor space on a 10 year lease at the Tanfield office scheme in Inverleith Row, Edinburgh. thetrainline.com are only the second tenant in the large office development after project’s first occupier, Aecom, a technical and management support services provider, moved into the first floor of the building last autumn, taking just over 17,000sq ft.
The Tanfield building is now owned by the Carlyle Group and was the former offices of investment company Standard Life. Upon its opening in 1991, the building was one of the most ambitious developments in the UK and boasted the largest floor plates of any office in Europe. Having acquired the office in April 2007, Carlyle Group has since invested in a programme of renovation and redevelopment on the building and completed the works in around June 2009. The first lease was secured with Aecom in October, 2009.
Located on the northern edge of the city centre, the building now offers Grade A rated office space, available to let as self-contained office suites ranging from just under 7,000 sq ft up to the full three floors of over 190,000 sq ft. Each suite is accessed through a 78m long feature atrium via a double height reception area. The building has a BREEAM rating of ‘very good’. Corporate and Personal Services are available at the reception desk along with a concierge facility.
Market reports suggest there has been a lack of interest in the building and Carlyle has not disclosed the agreed rental price for the leased floor space. Despite news of this second letting in excess of 170,000 sq ft of space is still to be taken.
Mark Harris, director of Carlyle Group, said the firm has made several improvements to Tanfield since the development was opened last autumn. He told the Scotsman: “Since our first letting, we have strengthened our efforts to further develop facilities in the building, with the introduction of a concierge service to enhance the experience for those working at Tanfield, ensuring we remain the first choice for occupiers with office requirements in Edinburgh.”
Posted in Edinburgh |
Tagged Renovations, Serviced Offices, Speculative Developments, Tanfield |
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Posted on September 29, 2010 by John Cronin
An office block known as The Building, Chiswick High Road, London is to welcome a new tenant after a 10 year lease deal has been secured.
IVG Institutional Funds GMBH, represented by commercial property agents Savills and Altus Edwin Hill, has let the ground floor at The Building, 578-586 Chiswick High Road, London, W4 to Television Versioning & Translation Ltd (TVT).
TVT, a media supply services business, has signed a new 10 year lease on office space totalling 3,923 sq ft and has agreed to rental prices of £25 per sq ft (£98,075 pa). Other tenants at the property include Taleo and Broadcast Text International. Two floors remain available comprising 5,000 sq ft each.
The Building is a 5 floor, fully glazed office building offering total floorspace of approximately 25,000 sq ft. Floor plates from 2,550 sq ft are available. The office has a BREEAM rating of ‘very good’. The Building has 12 secure car parking spaces available for tenants.
Andrew Willcock at Savills comments: “The Western corridor of M25 has seen a good level of demand from corporates this year and The Building, which lies close to the heart of Chiswick, continues to attract excellent levels of interest.”
Posted in London |
Tagged Rental Prices |
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Posted on September 29, 2010 by John Cronin
The first phase of the plans to redevelop the Taunton former livestock market into a £270 million office and residential scheme have been approved by Taunton councillors.
Regeneration specialist, St. Modwen, the development partner of Taunton Deane Borough Council on the Firepool scheme, has been given permission to press ahead with plans to transform the 4.5 acre Priory Road Car Park into new office and residential space.
Firepool (pictured – click for larger), the first major phase of Project Taunton, is the largest town centre regeneration project in the South West with the potential to create up to 4,000 local jobs. The objective of the scheme is to make Firepool the new commercial heart of Taunton. The large-scale development will offer over 400 homes, leisure facilities and 500,000 sq ft of new office space. Phase one of the development will make available 113,000 sq ft of office floorspace. The development will offer “distinctive offices to accommodate major occupiers, alongside smaller scale buildings for local businesses”.
Pete Davies, development manager for St. Modwen, said: “This is very positive news for Taunton town centre. We are already progressing plans to build the first office building at the site and this announcement shows the Council’s commitment to the development as a major new build office scheme supporting the town and county’s growth”.
Posted in Somerset |
Tagged firepool, Planning, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on September 28, 2010 by John Cronin
Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) has secured grants worth £4.7m to help fund a further phase at a business park it owns in Sefton.
RLAM and partner Industrial Securities has been awarded the funding for the next development phase at the large Atlantic Park scheme on the former Rolls-Royce plant in Sefton, north of Liverpool. The grants are made up of £3.1m from the European Regional Development Fund and £1.6m from the North West Development Agency. The project will involve site preparation and infrastructure works to bring forward 22 hectares of land with the potential to develop approximately 807,300 sq ft of office and industrial accommodation, create 1,500 jobs and attract £40 million of private sector investment.
An existing single-storey office building, is to undergo a comprehensive programme of refurbishment and remodelling to provide Grade A office accommodation. Named Caspian House, the building, formerly an administration office for Rolls-Royce, will provide a modern office space of around 37,700 sq ft and will be available to let either as a whole or sub-divided into two individual self-contained units.
This latest phase of development complements Atlantic Park’s existing five-storey flagship Grade A office building, No 1 (pictured), which was completed in 2008 to increase the quality of out-of-town office accommodation in the local area. The building offers ‘L’ shaped floor plates ranging in size from 8,100 sq ft to 9,982 sq ft. The offices have BREEAM ratings of ‘very good’. Rental prices are available upon application.
Gareth Dickinson of Royal London Asset Management, the owners of the site, said:
“Investment of this scale allows us to kick-start the next phase of our speculative development and is a vital step towards making Atlantic Park a key employment site.
“A 36 week programme of works can now begin and will see us bring additional high quality space and much needed choice to the office market in the north of Liverpool. Caspian House will be completed by the end of the year and the site wide infrastructure will be in place by March 2011.”
Marketing agents include Mason & Partners.
Posted in Merseyside |
Tagged Renovations, Speculative Developments |
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Posted on September 27, 2010 by John Cronin
The biggest office deal this year in the Jewellery Quarter district of Birmingham has just been signed.
Chord Developments have secured a ten-year lease deal with global insurance brokerage Willis Group Ltd. The insurance company has taken 10,000 sq ft (929 sq m) including 12 car parking spaces on the ground floor at 40 St Paul’s Square (pictured). The company moves from 30 St Paul’s Square.
Will Monaghan, lease manager at Willis, said: “Willis has been established in the Jewellery Quarter for many years and we were keen to remain here. 40 St Paul’s Place fitted the bill as it is a landmark building in a convenient location and it offered the space we needed on one floor plate.”
The letting to Willis is Chord’s second following the launch of the office space in May this year. In August construction and fit-out company ISG took 3,314 sq ft of floor space in the building. 40 St Paul’s Square is part of the mixed-use St Paul’s Place scheme, comprises 25,400 sq ft/2,360 sq m of office space and 148 apartments. The building offers the biggest floor plates in the Jewellery Quarter.
40 St Paul’s Square boasts a full Grade A specification, including air conditioning and raised flooring in a renovated, period building overlooking a fully landscaped courtyard. The office space is over two floors and is accessed via a boutique hotel-style lobby, with marble and granite wall cladding.
Quotes rental prices for floorplates between 4,500 – 20,295 sq ft are from £18.50 per sq ft per annum. Floor space within the building amounts to a total of 35,973 sq ft.
Nick Williams, head of office agency at Savills, said: “Chord has scored two significant lettings in a matter of months. It’s a ringing endorsement of the product and the location. 40 St Paul’s Place offers a city centre-type specification, in a landmark building, but at two-thirds the rental costs of similar new Grade A stock.”
Birmingham City Council’s plan to develop the Jewellery Quarter into a hub for creative businesses has attracted significant amounts of private investment into the Quarter in recent years. The area of Birmingham is so-called as it used to house the numerous jewellery and coin manufacturers in the city.
Chord Developments are spending in excess of £35m on their St Paul’s Square development. Other office developments in the Jewellery Quarter include the St Georges development (93,528 sq ft) and the Birmingham Mint redevelopment that will offer 60,000 sq ft of floor space in the first phase.
Posted in West Midlands |
Tagged Jewellery Quarter, Rental Prices, Snowhill |
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Posted on September 27, 2010 by Rob Powell
A Glasgow businessman has come up with an unlikely incentive to help sell office space in the city – a free Aston Martin DB7.
Tim Twiddy is offering the car, worth approximately £17,000, as a freebie to the buyer of an office suite he is selling in Bath Street.
Mr Twiddy tells Scotland’s Daily Record that his wife had told him he had to get rid of the car – his second Aston Martin – so by selling the office and disposing of the car, it would “make both my commercial and domestic life much happier all round”.
The 1300 sq ft office suite was originally part of the head office of the City of Glasgow Friendly Society and is being marketed for £120,000.
Posted in Glasgow |
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Posted on September 24, 2010 by John Cronin
A new £3.5m Grade II-listed rural office development on the outskirts of Sheffield has been short-listed for the prestigious RIBA EM Awards.
The Hathersage Business Centre (pictured) is shortlisted for an award, which are handed out by the Royal Institute of British Architects to recognise excellence in architecture.
It follows the conversion of a range of semi-derelict listed buildings, which originally formed the coach house, dovecote and stables to Hathersage Hall. The completed scheme has received acclaim for the careful redevelopment of the listed buildings while at the same time achieving a Category B energy performance rating and for the implementation of sustainable building practices such air source heat pumps for under floor heating.
The newly constructed, premium grade offices offer a total of 12,500 sq ft of floor space with individual office suites ranging from 460 sq ft to 2,195 sq ft. Several of the units have been let or are under offer. Rental prices have not been made public.
The winners of the RIBA awards will be announced at a presentation ceremony in Leicester on September 30.
Posted in South Yorkshire |
Tagged Listed Buildings, Serviced Offices |
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Posted on September 24, 2010 by John Cronin
Plans for a £20m office block development in Maidenhead have been approved by the local council.
The nine storey, 35m high building at the highest point will be the second tallest building in Maidenhead after Berkshire House, another multi-storey office block in the town that is 39m at the highest point. Despite some local opposition planning panel members argued the development, on a gateway site to the town in Market Street, will be key to the town’s rejuvenation plans by bringing a surge of footfall in 600 workers. Two existing office buildings on the development site at 27 and 29 (Albany House) Market Street are to be demolished.
The new office block will be located in the commercial area of Maidenhead and will offer approximately 7,000 sq m of floor space in a building of 9,200 sq m gross. The planning committee was satisfied that the development is capable of achieving a ‘Very Good’ BREEAM rating. It is not yet known if the floorplates will be rated as Grade A.
Aegon Asset Management who plan to lease out the office space are the financial backers behind the development and the project will be undertaken by Capella Estates. Architects for the scheme are Darling Associates.
Posted in Berkshire |
Tagged Planning |
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