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

City of London

PW reports that Brookfield Property Partners has been granted planning permission for 1 Leadenhall, its landmark office tower in the City of London. The building will comprise 538,000 sq ft of office accommodation and 51,000 sq ft of retail space, as well as a public terrace overlooking Leadenhall Market and has been designed by architects MAKE.  It will be one of several office towers Brookfield currently has under construction in the City, along with 100 Bishopsgate, London Wall Place and Principal Place.

City of Westminster

PW reports that UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCPT) has secured a new 10-year lease in London’s Soho with Molinare, the UK’s leading post-production supplier for TV drama series and feature films, including Oscar winner The King’s Speech, Sherlock and Netflix series The Crown.   Molinare has taken full occupancy of 34 Foubert’s Place, off Carnaby Street, comprising 20,500 sq ft of office and studio space.  The letting has been agreed at just over £1m a year, reflecting a 37% uplift on the previous rent.

PW reports that Property investor Lazari Investments has refinanced six of its key central London assets as part of two deals totalling £409m arranged by Lloyds Bank Commercial Real Estate.  Under the first agreement, Lazari has refinanced two assets in a £118m, 10-year funding package provided by Lloyds Bank through its partnership with Scottish Widows. It is the biggest transaction to take place under the initiative so far.  The agreement covers 72-86 Baker Street, a 83,900 sq ft six storey building let predominantly to global PR group Publicis on a 15-year lease, and Maple House on Tottenham Court Road, another mixed-use building covering over 170,000 sq ft with Sainsbury’s and PC World among the retail tenants.  The second tranche, covering four properties, is a £291m, five-year loan, agreed with Lloyds Bank, RBS and Met Life each of which is providing a third of the funding. Lloyds Bank acted as the lead arranger.  The four properties include Turner House on Marlborough Street in Soho, Ferguson House on Marylebone Road and the recently refurbished One Welbeck Street, close to Oxford Street, which Lazari acquired in 2016 for £103m.

PW reports that London & Regional Properties is set to splash out £600m on two of the largest hotels in the UK including the Hilton Metropoles in London. The 1,059-room Hilton London Metropole in Paddington is being sold by the family-owned Tonstate Group, which is headed up by property mogul Edward Wojakovski. London & Regional is expected to pay between £550m and £600m for the hotels, making the deal one of the largest the UK hotel market has seen in the last year. The Paddington asset, located on Edgware Road, is the largest Hilton-operated hotel in Europe. The company’s portfolio includes the 450-room flagship five-star Hilton on London’s Park Lane. It also owns the Hiltons at Trafalgar Square and Green Park, the Marriott and Cumberland hotels at Marble Arch and the Strand Palace Hotel.

PW reports that The Crown Estate and Norges Bank Real Estate Management, has acquired the long-leasehold interest on 10 Piccadilly in St James’s, London, for £129m.

PW reports that Thor Equities and Meyer Bergman have put the 37,000 sq ft Burlington Arcade, in London’s Mayfair, on the market for £400m.
EG reports that Hong Kong-listed Emperor Group has exchanged contracts to buy Candy Crush Saga headquarters, the Ampersand building, W1, from Peterson Group for £260m.Peterson, also a Hong Kong company, began a process to sell the 89,337 sq ft asset at 178 Wardour Street, in November.

The building is home to King.com, the company behind the Candy Crush Saga game, which leased the entire 67,791 sq ft of offices in September 2015. It has 8.7 years left on its leases and pays £5.3m a year, £77.50 per sq ft. Ground floor tenants are retailers Perfume Shop, Lloyds, CJ & Clark, Carphone Warehouse, Pret a Manger and Ryman. The shops have an average unexpired lease term of 7.15 years and bring in rent of £2.5m per year.  The building is under-rented and has reversionary potential, with rents in the area between £95 per sq ft and £100 per sq ft.

ES reports that the former Mayfair office and studio of the late restaurateur Peter Langan is now been converted in to four luxury flats. Amazon Property developed the premises where the four bedroom penthouse on the top two floors is listed at £5.25 million with Knight Frank.  It has 2,142 sq ft of plush living space and terraces with views onto the historic liberty department store.

Hackney

PW reports that the London Borough of Hackney has the most active development pipeline when it comes to hotels, according to Colliers International’ latest London hotel index.  Hackney currently has only 2,200 hotel rooms available, however total active supply expected to open by the end of 2019 will double that current level.  Colin Hall, Colliers’ head of London hotels agency, said that rising regeneration opportunities in the east have tempted hoteliers to seek out new areas to invest.

Tower Hamlets

EG reports that Deliveroo is to open a 100,000 sq ft recruitment centre at Trilogy and LaSalle Investment Management’s republic, E14.  The online food delivery company which raised £225m last year to support its ambitious global expansion plans will move 100 staff to the Docklands buildings.

Wandsworth

PW reports that Capital & Counties is working up plans for a landmark redevelopment of Clapham Junction station as part of its joint venture with Network Rail, its managing director Gary Yardley has revealed.  The Earls Court and Covent Garden developer has been working with the rail provider on “ideas and proposals” for the regeneration of the south London station, which is Britain’s busiest railway station.  Network Rail confirmed the two companies were working together but stressed it was “too early” to know the cost of the project, although sources close to the joint venture said it would require an investment of around £500m.