Posted on September 23, 2010 by John Cronin
Architects David Chipperfield have won the competition for a commission to design the replacement for Elizabeth House in London.
The Elizabeth House site is currently occupied by a 1960’s building standing on a prime site in York Road, London right next to Waterloo Station. Previous plans for three towers (pictured), two for office space and the other for residential, had been much derided and were dubbed “the ugly sisters”. One of the office blocks planned was for 27 storeys, the other 22.
The £1 billion development plans put forward by Allies and Morrisons were initially blocked in 2008 by London Mayor Boris Johnson on the grounds that the towers would spoil some of London’s historic views, including those of Big Ben. After appeals by the developer, the then Communities secretary John Denham vetoed the plans in 2009 because “they would harm the Westminster World Heritage Site and local listed buildings including the Royal Festival Hall”.
Whilst indicating that tall office and residential blocks were generally suitable for the site, Denham concluded: “the two office towers did not possess the balanced, sculptural or elegant qualities crucial to the success of tall buildings”.
The existing 240,000 sq ft block and development site was bought by London & Regional Properties from P & O Estates for £85m in an all-cash transaction in March 2010. The new owners indicated at the time that they would put forward revised plans for a smaller footage development.
Having won the design commission from competing practices Grimshaw Architects and Hopkins Architects, Chipperfield now have the task of producing a design that is sympathetic to the area.
Headline rental prices for serviced offices within Elizabeth House are approximately £29/sq ft for centrally heated floor spaces and approximately £23/sq ft for comfort-cooled areas.
Posted in London |
Tagged Elizabeth House, Planning, Rental Prices, Serviced Offices |
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Posted on September 22, 2010 by John Cronin
The multi-million pound Snowhill development in Birmingham is set to recommence after being put on ice during the recession.
RT Group Development (RTGD) is understood to be looking at bids from several construction companies for a £45m office development at Birmingham Snow Hill rail station.
The office block, to be known as Two Snowhill, is the second of four phases in the development of the site, where RTGD owns 1.86 hectares of land. One Snowhill (pictured), a 12 floor office block is complete and is already occupied. Construction work on the second phase was suspended during the recession after Anglo Irish Bank, the original financier, pulled out. It left the office partially built, with two concrete cores sticking up into the skyline. The 14-floor office development, which will include basement car parking for over 140 cars is expected to be completed in late 2012.
The Snowhill development (the name is a deliberate concatenation of Snow Hill) is a mixed-use scheme offering premium office floorplates, residential housing and public spaces. The development is located in Birmingham’s business district and offers easy access to both rail and road networks.
One Snowhill is a £66m office block providing Grade A rated floorplates over 11 floors – the ground floor is used for retail outlets. Office tenants include KPMG who pre-let 118,403 sq ft back in 2006 – the deal at the time being the largest pre-let in Birmingham since 2002 and the largest outside of London since 2003. The other significant tenant is Barclays Bank, who let 98,000 sq ft of floor space and moved into the building in January this year.
When complete Two Snowhill will be the larger of the the two office blocks with an extra three floors of office space and offering 310,867 sq ft of floor space in total. Law firm Wragge & Co has agreed a pre-let deal for 60% of the building.
Joint marketing agents are Jones Lang LaSalle and CB Richard Ellis.
Posted in West Midlands |
Tagged Snowhill |
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Posted on September 21, 2010 by Rob Powell
A major new office development in Bournemouth has been given the go-ahead by local planners – three years after it originally gained planning permission.
The Troika Development was given planning consent for the construction of 25,000 sq m of B1 office space following a public inquiry in 2007, but with a three-year lifespan attached to the permission.
The developers failed to build in that time and were required to resubmit their application this year.
Despite local concerns about the large development in Riverside Avenue, which counts the Royal Bournemouth Hospital and a nursing home amongst its neighbours, a planning board at Bournemouth Council has given the green light to the scheme.
One elderly resident of the nearby nursing home voiced his disappointment at the decision in the local paper, the Bournemouth Echo. He said:
“We are very disappointed. We are going to be surrounded by four-storey buildings. At the moment we appear to live in beautiful countryside.”
The developers also have existing planning consent for a large Park and Ride site adjacent to the prospective offices.
Posted in Dorset |
Tagged Planning |
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Posted on September 21, 2010 by John Cronin
Commercial property developer MEPC has secured planning permission on two applications for office buildings in Leeds.
The plans for two additional buildings at Wellington Place were approved by Leeds City Council. A five storey office building next to the Grade II Listed Lifting Tower was described in a council report as creating:
“…A successful backdrop to the listed lifting tower and will visually contain the northern side of the main square at the centre of the Wellington Place development. It will be a high quality building and conforms to the objectives of the approved master plan.”
A six/seven storey office building with basement car park was also approved for the same site.
Managing director of Wellington Place Andrew Barlow welcomed the decision, noting the construction of the offices “demonstrates MEPC’s commitment to the expansion of the site”. However, Mr Barlow also stated MEPC is “taking a long-term approach to construction” and is therefore unlikely to carry out any speculative development.
Number Three Wellington Place will offer 110,000 sq ft of office space, while Number Ten is set to feature 35,000 sq ft.
Wellington Place is a seven hectare site in the west end commercial district of Leeds on the site of the former Central Station. When fully developed the site will provide in excess of 2.7m sq ft of both commercial and residential accommodation around a sequence of three major new public spaces which link the riverside with the city centre.
Number Two Wellington Place (pictured), is the existing seven storey, solar glazed building providing offices with Grade A floor-plates and is let to tenants including Sky, Irwin Mitchell and Regus, the serviced offices provider. 14,590 sq ft of floor space is available to let on the first floor.
7 Wellington Place has detailed planning consent and is available as a potential headquarters building on a design and build basis or for pre-rental by the floor. Potential exists to provide a building of up to 160,000 sq ft.
Wellington Central, is a building on the site constructed from recycled freight containers. Used as the marketing suite for the development the office is also available to tenants for rental for meetings and events.
Agents for Wellington Place are Jones Lang LaSalle and DTZ.
Posted in West Yorkshire |
Tagged Planning, Serviced Offices |
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Posted on September 20, 2010 by John Cronin
Commercial property developers are increasing the availability of premium grade floor space in Liverpool by renovating existing office buildings.
As highlighted by the just-released offices in the well-known India Buildings block in Water Street, developers are increasing the somewhat limited stock of Grade A office space in Liverpool by renovating old city centre buildings. The Royal Liver Building, Cunard Building, One Derby Square and 43 Castle Street are just some of the properties to have received extensive refurbishment over the last 12 months.
Developer Green Property Limited has opened up the myriad of narrow corridors and small, individual rooms within India Buildings to make available a range of flexible floorplates including whole floors within the listed building. Available office space ranges from 200 sq ft (18.5 sq m) to 35,000 sq ft (3,251 sq m) on a single floor with Grade A specification accommodation included. Rental prices are not currently quoted by joint agents CB Richard Ellis and Matthews Goodman.
Across The Strand at The Port of Liverpool building, developers Downing have commenced work on a new 8,330 sq ft office suite on the second floor of the Grade II listed building. Downing, Liverpool’s largest private commercial landlord is reporting healthy interest in the office space that will warrant a premium rental price. Downing has spent £15m in total on restoration works at The Port of Liverpool building, including restoring the iconic dome. The whole project is one of the UK’s largest privately-funded refurbishments of a listed building.
Paul Jolley, CB Richard Ellis associate director, said in a recent interview:
“A number of major owners, such as UK Land & Property, Downing and Green Property have upgraded their buildings.
“There used to be very little Grade A office space in the city, but this has markedly improved with the installation of modern specification of lighting and air conditioning.
“Of course, properties of India Buildings’ era are based on spinal corridors with small offices and now ways of working have changed.
“But, as more forward-thinking owners have shown, it’s not difficult to change that to keep up with the times.”
But not all Grade A office space in Liverpool is confined to the abundance of 2,500 listed buildings within the city, many being located in the business district. Developers English City Fund have just celebrated a topping out ceremony on the last phase of No 4 St Paul’s Square. The 109,000 sq ft new build, located in the business quarter of the city, is due for completion in May 2011, providing multi-let, Grade A rated office space. The scheme is one of the most significant speculative developments in Liverpool since the 2006 completion of 20 Chapel Street, a 150,000 sq ft new-build tower whose tenants include Liverpool Football Club, Barclays and Barclays Wealth, Bank of Ireland and Ernst & Young.
Posted in Merseyside |
Tagged Listed Buildings, Renovations, Serviced Offices |
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Posted on September 17, 2010 by John Cronin
A flagship Bristol office complex that was previously owned by failed property group Castlemore has come to market with a price tag of £82m.
The One Glass Wharf development affords some 215,000 sq ft of high grade office floor space, of which 81% is pre-let to law firm Burges Salmon. Approximately 42,000 sq ft on the ground to second floor is vacant and is being marketed at £27.50 per sq ft. The asking price of £82m would give an initial yield of 6.75%.
One Glass Wharf was left part-finished when Castlemore Securities collapsed in 2009. Castlemore reportedly had a £1billion property pipeline including 40 Holborn Viaduct, a 178,000 sq ft office block overlooking Holborn Circus, London.
One Glass Wharf is part of the Temple Quay area of Bristol, located only a short distance from the City Centre in what is reportedly “rapidly becoming known as the city’s business hub”. The area has seen a significant inward investment and has seen speculative office developments completed within the last two years.
Other recent developments in this new business quarter area of Bristol include The Paragon, a £35m speculative office development in nearby Victoria Street in the Redcliffe area of Bristol. Ernst & Young recently let 20,322 sq ft of office space over two floors at The Paragon on a 20-year lease at a rental price of £27.50 sq ft.
Alder King and King Sturge are advising on the sale of One Glass Wharf; Alder King and Lambert Smith Hampton are letting agents on the vacant space.
Posted in Bristol |
Tagged Rental Prices |
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Posted on September 17, 2010 by John Cronin
As phase one of MediaCityUK nears completion, Manchester commercial estate agents and developers are reporting increased demand for floor space in the region.
Muse Developments, a Manchester based developer and part of Morgan Sindall Group plc has completed two lettings at Anchorage Quay in Salford Quays, totalling 12,500 sq ft. Manchester based serviced offices company Bruntwood has welcomed three new customers to Furness House in Salford Quays, in deals totalling 3,750 sq ft. Meanwhile BNP Paribas Real Estate has acquired 5,140 sq ft for a client at Wrather Group’s Zenith building in Spring Gardens.
Wes Erlam, development surveyor at Muse Developments, said: “Whilst the market remains extremely challenging, we believe the advent of Media City UK – and the proximity of Anchorage to this fantastic new destination – will present real opportunities for us moving forward. We can offer highly competitive rents and a range of space in Anchorage One and Two. We look forward to capitalising on further opportunities in the future.”
In a sign that companies are expecting the Peel Group owned Media City UK development to generate new business, Manchester law firm Ralli has opened an office in the Digital World Centre in Salford Quays.
Kirsty Johnston, business centre manager for the centre said: “Ralli’s presence at the Digital World Centre represents an exciting development in the types of organisations that are becoming attracted to Salford Quays. This move will mean the firm is well placed to jump on any opportunities generated by Media City UK.”
Posted in Manchester |
Tagged Media City, Peel Group, Salford Quays |
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Posted on September 16, 2010 by John Cronin
A developer has been ordered to partially demolish a new office block in Leeds after a neighbour complained that it deprived his own property of light.
Developers Highcross added two additional floors to the existing five storey Toronto Square office, adding over 7,000 sq ft of floor space. The £10m extension was completed in 2009 and was leased to business consultants Zolfo Cooper on a 10-year lease.
But next-door neighbour Marcus Heaney filed for an injunction against Highcross, arguing that the extra floors deprived his own property of a right to light. Heaney, who runs an event management business, owns the former Yorkshire Penny Bank building in Infirmary Street.
The case was initially thrown out on the basis that Heaney did not complain about the development during the construction phase. However, courts subsequently granted him an injunction against Highcross, requiring the developer to pull down part of the extension. Chris Mills, commercial development director at Newbury-based Highcross, said the property fund manager and developer was appealing against the ruling after taking professional advice.
The Toronto Square office development is located in the commercial district of Leeds city centre and offers Grade A floor space of 74,145 sq ft with a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating. In January 2010 recruitment consultants Reed signed a 10-year lease for 6,695 sq ft of ground floor space at rental prices of £24/sq ft.
Posted in West Yorkshire |
Tagged Planning, Rental Prices |
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Posted on September 16, 2010 by John Cronin
Infrastructure services giant Balfour Beatty is to create 200 new jobs after signing-up for office space at a business park in Newcastle.
Balfour Beatty has taken a 10-year lease on the 41,000 sq ft Q14 building at the new Quorum Business Park on the edge of the city centre. The company is to use the floor space for a new UK customer services centre.
The business park has been constructed within an Enterprise Zone and aims to offer potential tenants competitive rental prices. Rents are quoted at between £14.95 and £16.95 per sq ft and incentives are also available. Offices in the ten available buildings have “Excellent” and “Very Good” BREEAM ratings. Serviced offices are available from single desk up to 1000 desk occupancy. On-site amenities including a nursery, retail centre, restaurants and sports club. Existing tenants include Tesco Bank, IBM and HM Revenue & Customs.
Agents are Knight Frank and DTZ.
Posted in Tyne and Wear |
Tagged Rental Prices, Serviced Offices |
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Posted on September 15, 2010 by John Cronin
Builders began digging the footings for the foundations of a new £75million office scheme in West Bromwich yesterday.
In one of the town’s biggest building projects seen in the last 30 years, construction company Bowmer and Kirkland are now working on a five-storey office block (141,000 sq ft) on All Saints Way for BT Liberata, an IT services company. About 450 staff will be based there once the office block is complete. The BT building will include a central atrium looking out onto a new public square that is also being built.
Developers Stoford are behind the scheme and have high hopes for the £75m All Saints project. All Saints, at the junction of the A41 Expressway and Cronehills Linkway on a 7 acre site, is part of a wider regeneration of West Bromwich town centre which has already seen the construction of The Public and will also see the complete overhaul of the local retail facilities. Stoford are ensuring that these new buildings comply to the BREEAM Excellent rating for office space. BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) is the leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings.
Jon Andrews, Stoford Director, said: “This landmark development is just the start of a mighty ongoing office building programme to regenerate West Bromwich as a prime business location.”
“Designed to the highest sustainable standards in an attractive mixed-use environment and with rents of less than £20 per sq ft compared with over £30 per sq ft in central Birmingham, the accommodation should prove irresistible to companies looking to relocate to a bright, easily accessible, modern setting.”
Sandwell Metropolitan Council is heavily behind the new office development. Fred Lynch, CEO, Transform Sandwell, said: “The building of the regional business centre is a real demonstration of how BT contributes to economic regeneration within the Borough. It will be a strikingly modern ‘green’ office space and will also bring much needed economic activity to an important part of this area.”
Meanwhile, final details are being put together for the planning application for a separate office block next door to BT that will be home to West Bromwich Building Society. The Society plans to relocate 450 head office staff to the new All Saints development by early 2012. The firm is expected to take 70,000 sq ft of the 270,000 sq ft site. Having agreed in principle to lease the floor space, the Society is looking to leave it’s current head office on West Bromwich High Street where it has been based for over 30 years.
Posted in West Midlands |
Tagged All Saints, Rental Prices |
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