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

City of Westminster

PW reports that Thor Equities and Meyer Bergman have announced plans to sell the Burlington Arcade in Mayfair for a reported £400m.  The companies have owned the high-end retail arcade, which links Piccadilly and Bond Street, since 2010, when they acquired it from a private family trust for £104m.  As part of their repositioning of the 0.5 acre estate they have focused on signing up luxury accessories brands, Royal Warrant holders and bespoke retailers.  In 2014, a string of Chanel-owned labels including lingerie brand Eres, watchmaker Bell & Ross, milliner Maison Michael and knit label Barrie became tenants at the arcade. Other retailers at the Arcade include Ladurée, Chanel, The Vintage Rolex Watch Company, Lulu Guiness and Manolo Blahnik.

PW reports that Regent Street Partnership, a joint venture between The Crown Estate and Norges Bank Real Estate Management, has acquired the long leasehold interest in 10 Piccadilly for £129m. The partnership, in which Norges Bank Real Estate Management has a 25% stake, already owned the property, over which the vendor, Standard Life Assurance Limited, had a leasehold interest with a 68 year unexpired term.

PW reports that Lothbury Investment Management has let the last remaining unit at its St James’s office scheme in London’s West End at a rent of £115/sq ft.  The firm let the vacant floor at 55 St James’s Street (pictured) to AlbaCore Capital, an asset manager focused on investments in the European public and private credit markets.  AlbaCore Capital has signed a 10-year lease on the second floor of the building, which totals 4,684 sq ft.  It will join existing tenants Vision Capital, PW Real Assets, Ferrexpo and Aksia Europe at the property.

PW reports that Skyscanner has landed 24,000 sq ft at The Avenue, AshbyCapital and Exemplar’s office and retail development on Tottenham Court Road.  The first major pre-let of the scheme will see the company take the top three floors, leaving 47,000 sq ft remaining. In total, The Avenue comprises 71,000 sq ft of office space and 14,000 sq ft of retail space. Bryan Dove, chief technology officer at Skyscanner, said the firm plans to recruit 100 more London employees this year.

PW reports that London & Regional Properties is set to splash out £600m on two of the largest hotels in the UK – the Hilton Metropoles in London and Birmingham.  This will include the 1,059-room Hilton London Metropole in Paddington and the 790-room Hilton Birmingham Metropole are being sold by the family-owned Tonstate Group, which is headed up by property mogul Edward Wojakovski.

PW reports that Oxford Properties and Brockton Capital have completed the first major pre-let at The Post Building, with McKinsey & Company committing to 100,000 sq ft.  McKinsey has the option of taking an extra 30,000 sq ft at the West End scheme, which will be its new London HQ, relocating from 1 Jermyn Street in the West End.  The scheme is a 320,000 sq ft mixed-use development on the former Royal Mail sorting office site near Tottenham Court Road.  It consists of 270,000 sq ft of office space alongside retail space and a 7,000 sq ft rooftop garden.

PW reports that Luxury US menswear brand Thom Browne has chosen Albertmarle Street, W1 for its first UK shop. It is opening a 1200 sq ft shop at 3 Albemarle Street, whichh is owned by a provate investor,  It has signed a 10-year lease and will pay around £500 per sq ft zone .

EG reports that Brockton Capital has bought 33 Broadwick Street, W1, for around £48m – a 3.98% yield – as it looks to take advantage of the street’s growing retail and leisure appeal.  It plans a major refurbishment of 42,109 sq ft property which was sold by SEB.

Hammersmith and Fullham

PW reports Brockton Capital and Landid have signed up Swedish firm BTS to a 10-year lease at One Queen Caroline Street in Hammersmith, west London.  Global professional services firm BTS has taken 8,239 sq ft on the second floor of the Hammersmith building (pictured), paying a rent in the mid-£50s/sq ft, where it will accommodate 80 staff.   BTS is the fourth company to rent space at the scheme, where 26,694 sq ft remains vacant in the 82,000 sq ft refurbished building.

PW reports that Capital & Counties’ expansion of its Earl Court scheme by 2,500 homes is likely to include a large proportion of additional affordable housing to satisfy the mayor’s desire to see the current proportion increased.  The scheme is due to increase by a third to 10,000 homes and a new masterplan is to be submitted by the end of the year.  Affordable residences now account for 1600 of the 75000 flats or 21.3%.

Lambeth

PW reports that London and Continental Railways (LCR) has signed up three flagship tenants to its Leake Street Arches retail scheme below Waterloo station.  Italian craft beer pub The Italian Job will open its  first central London venue at the 23,250 sq ft scheme, following its debut in Chiswick.

Southwark

PW reports that Online retailer MATCHESFASHION.COM has expanded its headquarters presence in The Shard by 40% to leave the building’s 600,000 sq ft of office space 97% let. MATCHESFASHION.COM will now occupy a total of 48,000 sq ft after becoming the fourth tenant to expand its space in the building.  The global luxury retailer has taken an additional 13,153 sq ft on a 10 year lease and will take occupation during Q1 2017.