The new tenants they have signed will help Threadneedle obtain an increase in rental income by £258,000.

Marketing information service provider Warc agreed on the lower and ground floor offices, a total of 4,408 sq ft, for five years. They will pay an annual rent of £83,695. Phil McIntyre Entertainments took a ten year least on 1,924 sq ft on the third floor, reportedly paying£83,695. Pleasurerealm will take the fifth floor for £64,047 on a ten year year for 1,924 sq ft.

Threadneedle were represented by Savills and DTZ during the lease signings. Associate director of Savills, Mark Gilbart-Smith said, “These three lettings highlight the strong level of demand for good quality, well located office space in central London.”

They are reported to be instructing Jones Lang LaSalle to put the building on to the market for £150 million, representing a net yield of 8.5% initially.

Harbour Exchange Square set in the heart of the London Docklands is a set of two twin buildings of 16-storeys. Hammerson bought the buildings in 1999 for £76.9 million. The site has a total 485,000 sq ft of space.

Potential buyers could include Land Securities as they already own the neighbouring 3-9 Harbour Exchange.

Hammerson are reported to be selling the building as they have recently reviewed their full property portfolio. They are currently looking to selling buildings and recycle the capital into new or existing schemes which are more likely to add value.

Over the past year investment opportunities had been quite slow in the London Docklannds’ area, but activity is starting to pick up this quarter, and this is  promising addition to such activity.

It received the designation for energy efficient building and is the seventh area to be recognised under the scheme, the government strategy for a low carbon economy. It highlights £90 million of invested funding towards more sustainable building projects that have taken place recently by regional development agencies, rather than bringing new investment from the government.

£72 million has been earmarked by the London Development Agency for a range of new developments and schemes to improve sustainability and energy efficiency in London buildings until 2013.

It is certainly a worthy cause, as buildings account for 71% of London’s CO2 emissions, the equivalent of 31.5 million tonnes of carbon a year.

The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills want to put the initial focus on retrofitting existing buildings to be more energy efficient and reduce existing emissions. The bulk of London’s buildings really need this as there aren’t that many new developments, retrofitting existing structures to meet new energy standards will truly make a difference in the capital, which will act as a benchmark for the rest of the world.

The building, known as the ‘Octopus’ has been turned down due to it being too distracting to drivers, causing chaos on the roads. It was planned to sit on the Chiswick Roundabout, next to the M4 – a very busy junction. The proposed 170 ft building was designed by Ken Shuttleworth, the architect famous for designing the Gherkin. It was to be five storeys high and contain 25,000 sq ft of much needed office space in the area.

The developers, London & Bath had planned to use one side of the building for electronic advertising, which could have generated hundreds of thousands of pounds in revenue. The advertising plans were what lost the Octopus its planning permission however. Councillors felt that having large moving images so close to a busy junction would be dangerous and distracting to drivers in an already hectic junction. “It’s a brilliant concept apart from the advertising. It’s too dangerous to put up hi-tech advertising in your face when you’re driving along the elevated section of the M4 because. You really need your wits about you and the fewer distractions the better,” said councillor Sheila O’Reilly.

Managing director of London & Bath, Kim Gottlieb commented on the decision, “Safety is a serious issue and we provided expert evidence to show this wasn’t a problem.

“We don’t blame the councillors for making the decision but feel they were misled by officer, who failed to look at things in an objective and impartial manner.”

The decision may have been influenced by a previous incident involving advertising on the Chiswick Roundabout. Back in 2006 Pretty Polly had a very distracting billboard ad featuring a scantily-clad model, which led to a barrage of complaints.

It is a shame to see planning permission turned down over such matters, as new developments are sorely needed in London to meet sky-rocketing demands for office space. However it is hoped that the developers will revise their plans and apply for planning again, without the advertising.

They have acquired the property on behalf of Standard Life Investments’ UK Property Fund, for a net figure of £19.10 million. They bought it from Capital & City Plc and the site comprises mainly of offices, as well as three restaurant units and some residential space. Purchase yield was 5.6%.

Manager of the UK Property Fund, Nigel Chapman said, “This acquisition provides the Fund with a prime, well specified West End building, multi-let to six tenants with an average unexpired lease term of 7.5 years. We anticipate strong rental and capital growth in this sector, and believe that the specific timing of lease events within the building should deliver strong performance to the Fund. Furthermore, it increases our West End exposure to c.12% in line with the Fund’s strategic positioning.

“This is the second purchase we’ve announced during the last month on behalf of the UK Property Fund, enabling us to reduce our cash position to c. 8.25%. We are currently in active discussions on a number of other opportunities and expect to reduce this position further in the near term.”

The vendor of the building was represented by Knight Frank, Jones Lang LaSalle represented the UK Property Fund/Standard Life Investments Plc.

The German fund managing firm are marketing the site for £260 million, representing a 5.5% yield. The building was originally developed by Legal & General and Stanhope, and is let to JP Morgan until 2025.

Average rental prices for office space within the development range from around £50 per square foot. The site is near to the Bank of England, and Commerz Real expect to attract interest in the trophey property from sovereign wealth funds.

The property is being marketed for sale within the same week as CB Richard Ellis Loan Servicing (CBRELS) announced the sale of eight property in the £1.15 billion White Tower scheme. They have instructed their strategic investment advisers Knight Frank and CB Richard Ellis to sell all properties apart form the Aviva Tower. Some properties are being marketed individually including Leadenhall Court and Alban Gate, others marketed as a packaged – the Thames Portfolio. It is estimated that they are looking for around £700 million for the properties in total.

There is a high demand for City properties for firms and fund managers to invest in with attractive yields, current news and trends such as above truly reflect this.

BREEAM is the standard for sustainable design and environmental performance. The ratings look at many different criteria and offer an award based on the results. ‘Outstanding’ is the top rating, meaning the site has to meet or exceed 85% across all targets.

The PWC site at 7 More London met these targets with ease, with facilities for recycling waste heat to warm or cool the building as needed, amongst other environmental support in the building. The office is situated on the south bank of the Thames river and holds 500,000 sq ft of office space. PWC worked closely with consultancy firm BDP on the building. The site is currently being fitted out ready for occupation in the beginning of 2011.

Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Roger Reeves said, “We had the opportunity with the design process for the building, to take a blank sheet of paper and raise the bar, both for ourselves and others, in the environmental and sustainability performance of office buildings. This assessment sends a really clear message that planning for the sustainable use of resources, in detail and right through the process, can make good business sense.”

It is hope that the award will further promote the issue of sustainability and better environmental awareness within new office space developments in London and around the UK, both to potential developers and tenants.

The buildings belong to entrepreneur Simon Halabi, and are being sold to repay investors part of the £1.15 billion in defaulted bonds which back the buildings.

One of the properties included in the sale is one of JP Morgan Chase’s London office buildings, priced at £466 million according to reports. The three buildings are being sold individually by CBRE, who manage the bonds. One of the other properties secured against the bonds is the headquarters of Aviva Plc, however this wont be put up for sale according to the statement released by CBRE.

Other buildings involved include Alban Gate, Leadenhall Court, New Court on Carey Street – all being marketed individually.Victoria Embankment, Sampson House, Ludgate House, Millennium Bridge House and the BSI tower are being marketed as a package called the ‘Thames Portfolio according to reports.

The office blocks are being sold at a time when there is a high demand for office space in London. However in the past two years there has been a 44% decrease in demand for commercial properties. Originally Halabi’s buildings were worth £1.83 billion packaged with bonds before the recession, but as the financial crisis continued their value dropped by around 50% and the bonds defaulted.

Proceeds from the sale should help to pay towards the losses from the bonds, mainly going to senior bondholders. However other bondholders are likely to lose part or even all of their investments.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc, based in Toronto Canada, have announced that they are searching for a site to rival the planned 64-storey Pinnacle project. The Pinnacle is the only major office space skyscraper planned for completion after 2012 in the capital’s City district.

The market is becoming stable enough to attract investment in major new developments such as large skyscrapers, with everyone wanting to build the tallest tower! Land Securities Group recently announced their revival of the Walkie Talkie Tower project after it was shelved during the recession. It would seem that many other developers will be following suite.

The shortage of office space in London is also helping drive new development, and skyscrapers and towers are a popular option not only for their visual impact, but the practicalities of expanding upwards rather than outwards.

“I’m not surprised that developers are sharpening their pencils again,” says Savvas Savouri, head of research at BH2, Savvas Savouri, “The issue now is supply of space, not demand.”

Brookfield currently own a 15% stake in Canary Wharf Group Plc, the owners of 1 Canada Square. The Brookfield construction worker are currently sealing the foundations ready for the new Pinnacle tower, which will stand at 945 ft high.

Brookfield have commented that they would like to secure tenants for the office space before starting the development, but they reported that they had found “interesting opportunities” in City.

Expect many more new developments to be announced, many experts believe this is the time to start them.

Ealingcross is based at 85 Uxbridge Road, Ealing in west London. It is owned by Neptune Land and Standard Life Investments’ Life Property Fund, represented by Montagu Evans and DTZ. It was completed last autumn, promising to bring West End standards of office space to west London.

17,213 sq ft of the new development has been signed for by A2 Dominion, a housing association. They are reported to be leasing the office space at £29 per sq ft on a 10-year lease. A2 Dominion were represented by Jaggard Baker during the transaction.

Ealingcross is a prime town centre development and offers Grade A office space, as well as excellent transport links and access to amenities in the area. It is part of an overall plan to redevelop the Ealing town centre areas with many new commercial and residential schemes.

“Ealingcross is an impressive new development with excellent green credentials that is set to breathe new life into the office market in West London” say DTZ on their website.

It offers floor plates of up to 18,000 sq ft, something which is in high demand in London. It offers an ideal and interesting alternative to the usual locations for office space in the West End, City and Canary Wharf, without a quite so hefty price tag usually found in those areas.