A weekly round up of the latest planning and property news from the central London boroughs

Camden 

PW reports that Capital & Counties Properties (Capco) has increased its holdings in Covent Garden with the £79m acquisition of a long leasehold interest in 15-17 Long Acre & 27b Floral Street. Located at the western end of Floral Street, opposite the Floral Court development, the property benefits from dual frontage on Floral and Long Acre and generates an annual rental income of £3.4m across 42,600 sq ft. It is split across 18,500 sq ft of retail space, which provides 60% of the income, and 24,100 sq ft of offices that present long-term asset management opportunities.

Islington 

EG reports that DTZ Investors achieved a record rent for Clerkenwell at 80 Clerkenwell Road, EC1. Tile supplier Solus Ceramics agreed a deal to take the ground floor showroom for £113 per sq ft and £55 per sq ft for the lower ground office. The deal included no rent-free period. Richard Suskund & Co and Colliers international advised.
EG reports that Old Park Lane Management and development manager CORE have been granted planning consent for a 27-storey office on the corner of Ropemaker Street. The Make Architects-designed building will provide 415,000 sq ft of offices along with dedicated SME/affordable workspace and ground-floor shops. The building rises to 128m at its tallest point and will provide a “full stop” to the cluster of towers that have developed around the area. The scheme is expected to complete in 2022

PW reports that Time Warner’s news subsidiary Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) has signed a 98,100 sq ft pre-let at Great Portland Estates’ 160 Old Street offices in London. TBS, the global entertainment, sports and news network, will set up its London headquarters in the lower ground to third floor of the building on four separate fifteen year leases with building owners the Great Ropemaker Partnership – a joint venture between Great Portland Estates (GPE) and Ropemaker Properties, the property nominee of the BP Pension Fund. The company will pay a rent in line with the September 2017 ERV and a market consistent incentive package. The ground and lower ground floors represent 35% of the area of the pre-let. 160 Old Street will provide 155,000 sq ft of offices and 6,700 sq ft of retail and restaurant space, with completion scheduled for March 2018.

Kensington & Chelsea 

PW reports that eco-friendly Swedish coffee shop Wayne’s Coffee has secured its first two UK sites, and plans to roll out the concept across the country. The first two cafés will be located on London’s Kensington High Street and near to the new Crossrail station in Ilford. Negotiations are also under way for a further six sites set to open in the next 12 months. Wayne’s Coffee was established in 1994 in Stockholm. It currently operates 140 stores across Sweden, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Cyprus and Saudi Arabia. It offers sustainable and organic coffee, along with an extensive range of organic and vegetarian products, cakes and other own-brand products; including a line of cold pressed juices and vitamin shots.

Lambeth

EG reports that Berkeley has submitted plans to redevelop the Oval gas works site, SE11, into a 738-home scheme. The project will be built in phases and include four residential blocks, the highest of which will be 18 storeys. It will also include 35% affordable housing and 110,000 sq ft of office space. Similar to Argent’s King’s Cross scheme, Berkeley’s plan will retain and convert one of the listed gas holders for residential.

Southwark 

EG reports that CBRE is planning to move its facilities management team to HB Reavis’s 61 Southwark street, SE1. It has placed the entire 75,000 sq ft of offices in the building under offer, creating a new base for the team which is currently spread across multiple offices. It will take a 15-year lease on the space, where quoting rents start at £65 per sq ft for lower floors and rise to more than £70 per sq ft for the highest floors. Knight Frank and Colliers International are joint leasing agents.

Westminster 

EG reports that Investec Structured Property Finance has agreed to a £46m financing facility to Westbourne Capital Partners for a two-acre site in St John’s Wood NW8. The finance package will support WCP through acquisition and planning, as it explores a number of options to vary the existing planning permission for 128 residential units. Plans for the site could include luxury retirement, student housing or working with local hospitals to provide office space or a step-down facility

PW reports that Hong Kong investor Chen Hsong Holdings has entered the UK property market with a debut £33.1m acquisition of 28 Dorset Square from Harbert Management and XLB. The Grade A, 23,200 sq ft office occupies a highly prominent corner site on Dorset Square, adjacent to Marylebone Station. Currently leased to Orbis Investment Advisory, 28 Dorset Square was completed in 2006 and has recently undergone a major refurbishment by the tenant. The transaction reflected a net initial yield of 4%. Chen Hsong Holdings is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange and is the investment arm of one of the largest manufacturers of injection moulding machines in the world.

PW reports that Citibase has signed a hat-trick of management contracts for flexible office hubs in London’s Knightsbridge, Victoria and Southwark. The Knightsbridge centre, at 27 Knightsbridge, occupies a landmark building overlooking Hyde Park and will provide up to 34,000 sq ft of space and up to 600 workstations. The hub in Victoria is located opposite Victoria station at 60 Buckingham Palace Road and has the potential to provide up to 12,000 sq ft of flexible space and up to 230 workstations across three floors. The third centre at 10-12 The Circle in Queen Elizabeth Street by Tower Bridge will offer more than 110 workstations and over 7,000 sq ft of space.

EG reports Shaftesbury has raised £265m through a placing 27.8m new shares to fund its acquisition activity. The new cash will be used to finance its purchase of 72 Broadwick Street W1, for £92m and £20m of additional capital it expects to spend on the building, which sits in the centre of the Carnaby estate. Shaftesbury said the purchase of the 0.5-acre site would provide opportunities through change of use, reconfiguration and refurbishment to create valuable new retail and restaurant space int he building. In its current configuration the building provides 54,100 sq ft of offices, 11 flats extending to 11,200 sq ft and a large basement car park. It produces an income of £3.1m, of which £2.6m will cease when the office tenant vacates at the end of September 2018. The purchase initially increases the proportion of total group income derived from offices by 2% to 19%.