Evans Randall, a privately-owned investment banking and equity group, are to strengthen their UK real estate portfolio with the purchase of the Drapers Gardens development in the city of London for £242.5 million.
This purchase shows an initial yield of 5.2%, however does not include a deduction for rent-free periods.
Allen & Overy, a London law firm, have announced plans to consolidate their offices into a hub in central London. The firm will relocate 200 staff from their 64,500 sq ft Canary Wharf office to headquarters in Bishopsgate.
The Canary Wharf office will still be part-retained with the law firm using 21,500 sq ft on the top floor for meeting facilities – the remaining 43,000 sq ft of office space, spread over three floors, will be sub let.
Independent financial advice firm True Potential have announced plans to open an office in Central London in Q4 2010.
The new office space in Victoria will provide a cohesive location for staff within the firm as well as any of their clients.
The firm, with a base in Newcastle, has a database of 600 firms and 3,900 registered individuals as clients, has a 15% of the UK IFA market. It has also recently launched a significant update to its iPad and iPhone compatible software, namely True Potential 2.2.
Fladgate, a commercial law firm who have recently featured in the news as solicitors for Earl Spencer, has announced new plans to consolidate two previous offices into one in the centre of London.
The company had previously occupied two Mayfair offices however have now announced plans to move into a single property at 16 Great Queen Street. This new property offers 41,750 sq ft of office space spread over five floors – the firm will however initially sub-let one floor.
The 70,000 litre aquarium, which was recently delivered to Heron Tower has been installed in the lobby and had to be transported on its side so that it could fit under the lower bridges.
The acrylic tank, measuring 12x2x4 metres, was installed by two London companies, Skanska, a construction firm and Heron International, a property group. It was created by Reynolds in Colorado and was shipped inside a strong protective steel frame. It will hold a shark and 1,300 other fish within a visually impressive and sustainable environment.
Managed office space specialist Avanta has broken all company viewing records this week.The sales team received 300 enquiries in one week and booked 84 new client viewings in business centres across the UK.
The confirmed closure of a London regional development agency (RDA) office has been followed by the announcement that nine other offices may be cut from the government budget as well.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: “[the offices] are not voices of the regions in Whitehall. They are agents of Whitehall to interfere in localities.” (more…)
New research suggests that landlords are becoming more aware of the potential benefits of making their office buildings eco-friendly.
According to a report, by Sabien Technology, many property owners and investors now take energy ratings into consideration as a means to increase the rental prices of a property.
It seems that this trend mirrors that of the USA, where eco-construction has become a leading industry. In fact American policies on construction have actually influenced UK eco-policies.
From 2014 to 2016 many lease agreements will expire leading to some tenants relocating, which may create some economic instability.
This 3 year window of turmoil is due to the fact that there was a significant boom of 25 year and 15 year leases in the 1980’s and 1990’s. As a result 2014, 2015 and 2016 marks the end of many of these leases.
Therefore it is crucial to secure tenants for this period, otherwise properties will become vacant and landlords may become financially unstable.
The ‘7 More London’ building looks like all other London offices, but it has just been announced to be the most eco-friendly office space in London.
The building was designed with the environment in mind and was constructed in a collaborative act by PwC, Fosters, developer More London, an architect and an engineer from BDP and a several other consultants.
As a result Breeam sustainability assessors recently made the assessment that it was the most environmental-friendly building in the city.