Weekly planning news from the central London boroughs
A weekly round up of the latest planning and property news from the central London boroughs
Camden
Candi NHS reports that the Mayor of Camden, Councillor Nasim Ali, visited St Pancras Hospital on Wednesday 17 August to learn more about the development plans for the site. Malcolm McFrederick, St Pancras Transformation Programme Director, who guided The Mayor around the site said: “This was an opportunity to update Councillor Ali on our exciting plans to redevelop the St Pancras Hospital site. The redevelopment will release the funds needed to modernise our ageing buildings and strengthen mental health services for those living in Camden, Islington and beyond.”
Construction.co.uk reports that Construction firm Kier has been awarded a contract by Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust to deliver a new £17m mental health facility at 1 Lowther Road in Islington, London. Appointed through the Procure Partnerships Framework, the project forms the first integrated community mental health facility in the Trust’s St Pancras Transformation programme. Works include the demolition of the existing facility on site and construction of a new four-storey building which will include state-of-the-art facilities. The new space will provide interview, counselling and treatment rooms, and agile workspace for staff as well as a café and group collaboration zones. There will also be a ‘pocket’ park to support visitor and staff wellbeing.
Property Week reports that Investec Real Estate has provided Meadow Partners with a 36-month, £11.2m loan, to support its acquisition of a prime mixed-use building in King’s Cross in London. The five-story building on Northdown Street offers 14 apartments, including a penthouse, and around 8,200 sq ft of office space on the lower ground, ground and first floors. Meadow intends to refurbish the apartments, the entrance lobby and the building’s common areas to deliver a refreshed residential offering to the undersupplied King’s Cross market. Inclusive of this transaction, Investec has provided Meadow with more than £71m of senior financing across four schemes in London in the residential, office and data centre sectors. Jonathan Long, head of corporate teal estate at Investec, said: “This transaction further solidifies our relationship with Meadow, a long-standing real estate and cross-bank client.
Property Week reports that investor and developer RE Capital has secured planning permission from Camden Council for a 12-storey residential development in the Fitzrovia area of central London. RE Capital said the development will provide “four luxury apartments, including a quadruplex penthouse apartment with terrace and an affordable workspace on the ground and lower ground floors”. A spokesman for RE Capital said approval for the site at 52 Tottenham Street, just off Tottenham Court Road and near Goodge Street station, continues the firm’s “100% success rate streak at UK planning applications”. It follows the recent announcement that Yuan Sun has joined the firm as head of UK residential development to spearhead work in the build-to-rent and build-to-sell markets. RE Capital chief executive Newman Leech said: “This latest planning approval is a strong endorsement of our ability to recognise the potential of a site and set out plans that will maximise that potential, as well as our team’s ability to secure approval for complex developments. “Our experience, relationships and diverse skill set means we have a varied portfolio of assets in our target geographies, and we look forward to progressing 52 Tottenham Street alongside our London projects in Clerkenwell, Farringdon, Victoria and Camden.” RE Capital project manager Masen Lintvelt added: “To achieve planning approval for a scheme of this height and complexity is testament to RE Capital’s expertise, the quality of the design by DSDHA and the efforts of the entire professional team.”
City of London
City Matters reports that Destination City can ‘bring light to the Square Mile’, says City policy chief. One of the things that makes the City so exciting is the contrast of old and new – Sir Christopher Wren-built churches stand cheek by jowl with space-age skyscrapers, along an ancient street plan which a mediaeval Londoner could navigate. But we have seen the impact of the pandemic on high streets right across the country – and as our residents know – that impact is also felt here in the Square Mile. This is exactly why we have launched Destination City – a new flagship programme designed to drive even more footfall back into the Square Mile and revitalise our streets. With our £2.5 million annual investment, we will bring fun, colour, and light to the Square Mile, and reimagine the City as a vibrant destination for residents, visitors, and workers. We will hold a spectacular free event on Saturday October 15 including a huge programme of theatre, games, and performance. This will be the first of many.
Property Week reports that Aviva Investors and Allianz Real Estate have appointed construction and consultancy company Mace as principal contractor at the partnership’s 101 Moorgate project in the City of London. The over-station development features a 10-storey building providing eight floors of grade A office space, as well as a mezzanine-level business lounge and retail space. The site will include a roof terrace, additional outdoor areas at lower levels and a covered walkway to provide public access between Moorgate and Moorfields. Construction of the development, which will form part of the new Liverpool Street station’s Moorgate entrance, will begin in October 2022, with completion expected in September 2024. Ged Simmonds, Mace managing director, commercial offices and residential, said: “We are proud that Mace will be playing a key role in Aviva Investors’ vision for 101 Moorgate. Not only is 101 Moorgate an exciting project right on our doorstep, but it’s our first project with Aviva and Allianz Real Estate. There is a common ambition to create a building that excels on all levels as a truly sustainable workplace for generations to come.”
Property Week reports that Chinese Estates Holdings (CEH) is to spend around £429m to redevelop the former Daily Express site, one of Fleet Street’s most iconic buildings. The scheme at 120 Fleet Street consists of the commercial building River Court and the art deco Daily Express building. River Court will be redeveloped into a 21-storey high rise and renamed as Evergo Tower, offering approximately 540,800 sq ft of office space and approximately 18,600 sq ft of retail space. The new name commemorates the renowned merger of the CEH and Evergo Holdings Company. Demolition works of River Court officially started last week, and the new tower is expected to be completed early in the second quarter of 2023, and will open in the first half of 2026. Annual rent is anticipated to be approximately £80 to £100 per sq ft, thereby generating an annual rental income of approximately £44m to £55m, equivalent to 2.51x to 3.14x the income before the redevelopment. Ms Chan Hoi Wan, chief executive of CEH said the a Grade II listed Daily Express Building “will be revitalised and become an ultra premium art and cultural hub”. Ms Chan said: “Taking advantage of this opportunity to redevelop and revitalize 120 Fleet Street, we hope our novel attempt of integrating art into a commercial project could be mutually beneficial and allow all stakeholders to flourish.”
Lambeth
Property Week reports that the Mayor of London has decided not to call in plans to redevelop ITV’s former South Bank studios at 72 Upper Ground which were halted by Michael Gove earlier this year. London mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed he will not call in controversial plans to redevelop ITV’s former South Bank studios at 72 Upper Ground, which were halted when former housing secretary Michael Gove issued a Section 31 notice in May this year. The proposals from developer Mitsubishi Estate and development manager CO-RE set out a landmark redevelopment of the 2.5-acre site, with plans to create a commercially led mixed-use scheme comprising 850,550 sq ft of workspace. The £400m plans were given planning approval by Lambeth Council in March but two months later became a national talking point when Gove dramatically ordered the pause. His Article 31 notice threw the future of the whole redevelopment into doubt, signalling that the government may call in the plans for further scrutiny. Lambeth Council contacted Khan’s office on 10 August to review the plans. In a letter revealing the Greater London Authority’s (GLA’s) decision, Jules Pipe, deputy mayor of London for planning, regeneration and skills, said the mayor did not wish to refuse or take in the planning application. However, the letter does state that the decision is still subject to action from the secretary of state.
Tower Hamlets
Evening Standard reports that Nightcap, the owner of the Adventure Bar Group and the Barrio Familia chain has completed a £10 million debt refinancing deal with banking giant HSBC and will celebrate by opening a new location for its Cocktail Club chain in Canary Wharf. The ground floor site located at Cabot Square in the heart of the financial district includes an indoor area measuring approximately 1,600 square feet in addition to an outside terrace area. Canary Wharf is the seventh new opening for The Cocktail Club since it was acquired by Nightcap and takes the total number of The Cocktail Club sites to seventeen. Sarah Willingham, boss of Nightcap and ex-‘Dragon’s Den’ investor, said: With our first site in Canary Wharf for Nightcap we are sticking to our strategy of taking The Cocktail Club to prime locations across the country.”
Westminster
Property Week reports that representatives of London’s West End retail hub have sent a letter to Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, asking them to help struggling businesses by lowering business rates. The letter, signed by Jace Tyrrell, CEO of New West End Company, Councillor Adam Hug, leader of Westminster City Council and Ros Morgan, CEO of Heart of London Business Alliance, also called for tax-free shopping and visa reform. “At a time when prices are rising for everyone, we urge you to commit to a change that has been overlooked by successive governments, but can protect employment, reduce inflation, and promote growth: fundamental reform of business rates,” the letter said. “Business rates have no connection to profit and are a regressive form of taxation, which tax businesses for existing rather than taking a proportionate amount of their income.” It added that “the current excessively high level of business rates is entirely in the control of the government and is being directly fed through to individuals doing their weekly shop. “Business rates reform can empower local areas, allowing more businesses to grow and local authorities to keep more of the money generated by occupied high streets.”
Property Week reports that The Portman Estate is readying a major new office scheme on London’s Edgware Road, W2. The estate, which owns 110 acres of central London, wants to redevelop two of its buildings – Garfield House at 86-110 Edgware Road and Bernard House at 163-169 George Street – as a single, seven-storey building. The new building would include roughly 82,000 sq ft of grade-A office space and almost 13,000 sq ft of retail, food and beverage, leisure and community space. A planning application lodged with Westminster City Council and drafted by Gerald Eve described the existing Garfield House as “unattractive and not befitting of the site’s prominent location on Edgware Road”. The Hopkins Architects-designed scheme “will make a major contribution towards increasing office floorspace in the City of Westminster”, the planning statement added.It said that the proposed development is being brought forward “during a period of significant change and wider economic challenges” as a result of Covid-19 lockdowns and “a continued increase in online shopping and business rates”. Simon Loomes, Portman Estate’s strategic projects director, told EG the project forms “a major cornerstone for the next phase in the ambitious 20 year regeneration programme for Edgware Road”.
Timeout reports that London’s largest tequila bar is coming to the site of Tropicana Beach Club. The former Tropicana Beach Club, which closed before the pandemic and never reopened, will be revived to make way for Barrio’s flagship venue. This follows the success of Barrio’s four other venues in Angel, Brixton, Shoreditch and Soho. Barrio Covent Garden is set to open in November 2022. With space for up to 600 tequila lovers, you’ll be able to chug margaritas to your heart’s content from the curated menu of Latin-inspired cocktails and line your stomach with Mexican street food. And if you can’t get enough of London’s endless wealth of organised fun for adults, they’ll also be putting on live entertainment, DJs and Bottomless Bingo Brunch. There will even be an ‘amigos hour’ AKA happy hour with deals on tacos, cocktails and tequila. Jim Robertson, managing director of Barrio Familia, said: ‘Having previously set up and operated Tropicana Beach Club prior to the pandemic, I am so excited to be going back again with Nightcap to open Barrio Covent Garden. This will be our biggest Barrio to date, and without a doubt, the best party we have ever thrown.
General
The Times reports that the amount of office space available to let in London has jumped by more than 50 per cent since the beginning of the pandemic, underscoring how working from home has drastically changed the commercial property landscape. In the months leading up to the first lockdown, when schlepping into the office five days a week was still the norm, there was about 20 million sq ft of available office space in the capital, according to CoStar, the real estate data provider. That has now risen to 31 million sq ft, the equivalent of 45 fully let Walkie Talkie buildings. Not for at least 17 years has there been so much empty office space available to let in London, said CoStar, whose data only goes back to 2005. Even in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, office availability levels in the capital peaked at 28 million sq ft. The crisis triggered a collapse in office investment and sent the value of office blocks in the capital, generally seen as a safe investment, tumbling by more than 25 per cent.
Property Week reports that demand for development sites in central London led to a 143% spike in commercial and mixed-use land transactions in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2021, Savills has said. Central London investment activity in H1 reached £9bn, 30% up on the 10-year average, said the agency, despite “the challenging macro-economic climate for debt-backed buyers that tempered activity in Q2”, which it said will continue for the rest of the year. Savills said it expects 2022 total take-up across central London to reach approximately 10m sq ft, in line with the long-term average, “although occupiers are scrutinising their future space commitments in ever more detail, and may pivot towards less but higher-quality space in Q4 and early 2023”. Risk premiums on London assets continue to look attractive compared with other key global cities, with the depreciation of sterling also making core long-income assets attractive to international investors, said the agent. Oliver Fursdon, head of Savills’ central London commercial development team, said: “H1 2022 was an exceptional time for the London land market. The current inflationary headwinds will remain a factor going forward, and while they will put some pressure on project viability, they have not come as a surprise and are countered to some extent by the positive occupational environment.
Property Week reports that supply and demand constraints have continued to wreak havoc on London rental costs, according to the latest data. Central London produced the highest average weekly rent in the year to date at £627, a rise of more than a third in comparison with last year, research by Foxtons, one of the largest real estate agencies in the country, found today. New listings across the lettings market have plummeted 40 per cent so far this year. “Rent is making headlines in the capital… London’s average rental price for new rents was £541 per week in July, hot on the heels of June’s £549 per week, which broke the record as highest monthly rental price in years,”managing director Sarah Tonkinson said in a statement. Average rental prices have been stuck within one per cent of the record-breaking highs seen in June. “As low stock and high demand are likely to continue for some time, we do not see average rental prices declining significantly in the coming months,” she warned.