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

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Camden

Property Week reports that King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership has agreed a new £1bn facility secured against a number of investment assets at its King’s Cross Estate. The loan term is up to five years and “provides funding certainty” as well as consolidating a number of existing loans, according to the partnership. The King’s Cross Estate is owned by the King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership, which is backed by Argent and includes Australia’s biggest superannuation pension fund, AustralianSuper, and Federated Hermes on behalf of the BT Pension Scheme. Robert Evans, chief executive of the King’s Cross Estate and joint managing partner of Argent, said: “It is clearly significant that King’s Cross can secure a loan of this calibre in a challenging market. “It represents a powerful endorsement of King’s Cross as a highly desirable place, a resilient asset and leading destination.”

City of London

Property Week reports that Helical has exchanged contracts to sell single-asset company Farringdon East (Jersey), owner of the long leasehold interest in the Kaleidoscope office building above Farringdon East Crossrail Station in London, to Chinachem group for £158.5m. The price for the 88,580 sq ft office building, which is entirely occupied by TikTok, reflects a capital value of £1,789/sq ft. Helical property director Matthew Bonning-Snook said: “Kaleidoscope was the first over-station development to be completed on the Elizabeth Line and we were able to attract one of the world’s fastest growing tech businesses due to its striking design, highly accessible location, excellent amenities and strong environmental credentials. “We will now seek to recycle the proceeds from the sale into delivering new, highly sustainable ‘best-in-class’ central London office schemes, where occupier demand remains strong.” Social media video platform TikTok took a 15-year lease on the office building in March 2021, paying £7.63m per year. Transport for London was granted a 150-year lease in 2018 and has a head rent geared to 10% of contracted rents.

Property Week reports that Real estate giant Landsec is leasing 23,000 sq ft at One New Change, its mixed-use building in the City of London, to Cynergy Bank, the former UK arm of Bank of Cyprus. The bank, which is focused on business owners, property entrepreneurs and family businesses, will take part of the building’s fourth floor, relocating from its current headquarters in London’s West End. Landsec said Cynergy Bank will move into the offices next year. “With office workers increasingly looking to make the most of being back in the capital, businesses are seeking out destinations that provide a mix of amenities in their building and on their doorstep,” added the real estate group. Oliver Knight, head of offices at Landsec, said: “With people increasingly splitting their week between home and the office, we know that workers are looking to capitalise on their time in the city by dining out or socialising after work. Workspaces with direct access to great local amenities, be it retail, restaurants or leisure, can draw people into the office, helping businesses to drive performance and connect with their people.”

City Corporation reports that responding to the result of the Conservative Party leadership race, Policy Chairman at the City of London Corporation, Chris Hayward, said:“We congratulate Liz Truss on her victory in the Conservative Party leadership election. The City Corporation has enjoyed positive relations with her as Foreign Secretary and International Trade Secretary and we now look forward to working with her as Prime Minister. It is vital that we work together to address some of the major challenges the country is currently facing. “This will involve seizing new opportunities such as the implementation of the Financial Services and Markets Bill and the secondary objective for the financial regulators to promote growth and international competitiveness.

Hackney

Property Week reports that PPHE Hotel Group has posted a whopping 339.4% rise in revenue for the first half of the year following the end of Covid lockdown restrictions. Revenue leapt from £28.6m in the first six months of 2021 to £113.2m during the first half of this year. However, sales were only 73% of pre-pandemic levels, while quarter-on-quarter momentum in the period saw the second three months of 2022 trading at 87.5% of equivalent 2019 levels. Earnings improved to £17m from £14m last year, driven by the recovery in demand. The recovery has led to the reinstatement of the interim dividend at 3p a share and the commencement. Boris Ivesha, president and chief executive of PPHE said: “As Covid restrictions have been lifted across all of our markets, leisure demand has rebounded strongly due to pent-up demand for travel, and our best-in-class properties have been well-positioned to benefit from this trend. “In the UK, we have continued to see a strong recovery in activity across our portfolio particularly in London, where meetings and events enquiries are also ramping up following the previous period of inactivity due to Covid.

Islington

Kensington & Chelsea

Property Week reports that the headline lot at Strettons’ 13 September auction will be a pair of adjoining period properties in Kensington, west London, in a conservation area close to Earl’s Court, with a guide price of £9.5m. The pair are divided into 24 self-contained flats arranged over six floors (pictured). Two of the flats have two bedrooms, eight have a single bedroom and the remaining 14 flats are studios. Combined, the accommodation has a gross internal area of 7,037 sq ft. The dual property is let to an operating company on a five-year lease, expiring in March 2027, for £420,000 per year, with scheduled rent increases in years three, four and five, according to the auction listing. Strettons said the lot is set to rank in the top five residential investment properties ever auctioned in the UK. Auction director Andrew Brown said: “The property will attract investors looking to add a healthy income-producing property to their portfolios and I expect its yield and location will have wide appeal.”

Property Week reports that Restaurant Shoryu Ramen has secured a 1,700 sq ft unit at 190 High Street Kensington as part of the revitalisation of the west London retail parade. Knight Frank and CBRE have been appointed as joint leasing agents and have been overseeing the repositioning of the parade, which spans 176-206 Kensington High Street, to create a mix of luxury dining, boutique fitness and lifestyle brands. Shoryu joins Karve, an independent Pilates studio, upmarket fitness brand Roar Fitness, and all-day restaurant concept Megan’s as new occupiers. The transformation of the retail parade is further supported by the recent opening of street-food concept Kensington Quarter and Big Mamma Group’s new restaurant, which will open later this year, also on Kensington High Street. Lizzie Everard, associate at Knight Frank, said: “This commitment from Shoryu shows further momentum as we transform Kensington High Street from a retail-led destination to a more eclectic mix of lifestyle, leisure, dining and culture.

Lambeth

Property Week reports that the redevelopment of ITV’s former headquarters at London’s South Bank has been called in by the government and will face a public enquiry. Developer Mitsubishi Estate and development manager CO—RE, the firms behind the £400m proposals, said in a joint statement that they were “obviously very disappointed” at the delay to construction and hope the process ”moves forward quickly”. The plans were granted planning approval by Lambeth Council in March 2022 before then-housing secretary Michael Gove intervened, issuing an Article 31 notice in May to put the scheme on pause, and despite Sadiq Khan last week granting his own approval for the scheme, housing secretary Greg Clark has confirmed that a public enquiry will be held shortly. The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said the secretary of state had received multiple requests to call in the planning application and after carefully considering the scheme against published policy, had decided to call it in.

Southwark

Property Week reports that the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and US firm Greystar Real Estate Partners are acquiring land in Bermondsey, south London, from real estate company Grosvenor to build 1,548 build-to-rent homes. Greystar and Grosvenor did not disclose the price paid for land at the former Peek Freans biscuit factory site. Greystar said it would acquire the scheme through its strategic partnership announced in December with a wholly owned subsidiary of AIDA, which will invest up to £2.2bn to develop BTR housing in London and surrounding commuter towns. The Bermondsey site will include a new secondary school and employment, cultural and retail spaces, and historic buildings in the area will be incorporated into the plans, Greystar said. “It will help to create new job opportunities through 150,000 sq ft of flexible employment space, driving additional footfall for local businesses,” Greystar added. Grosvenor acquired the site in in 2013, submitted an initial planning application in 2017 and gained planning permission in February 2020. Work began on the first phase of the scheme last year.

Tower Hamlets

Property Week reports that Cushman & Wakefield and JLL have been appointed leasing agents for an 800,000 sq ft commercial laboratory development in London business quarter Canary Wharf. Developer Canary Wharf Group and investor Kadans Science Partner said the development would be “the largest commercial wet lab enabled life science building in Europe”, forming part of a sector cluster at Canary Wharf. Due for completion in 2026, “it will be a laboratory building at its core, with full flexibility allowing lab space on all floors”, they added. Canary Wharf Group managing director Richard Archer said: “The appointment of Cushman & Wakefield and JLL reflects our commitment to assembling a best-in-class team to deliver the biggest and most innovative life sciences development in Europe. “We already have a significant amount of interest from potential occupiers and will aim to start leasing space concurrent with construction. We will also look to build on the momentum of the recent leasing to Genomics England at One Canada Square, as we establish a major life science ecosystem Canary Wharf.”

Wandsworth

Cirt A.M. reports that the office and retail development at Battersea Power Station will open to the public next month, almost 40 years since the iconic building closed. The South-London development will open on 14 October, project owners revealed on Thursday. Around 100 shops, restaurants and bars have bagged space at the development, while big names Apple and IWG are set to open up offices in the building. Brands to open stores in the next month include Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren, lululemon, Uniqlo and Mango, with more brands to be announced in the coming weeks. The Grade II listed building includes more than 250 apartments, as well as a lift experience in one of the iconic chimneys for views of the capital’s skyline. A new high street, named Electric Boulevard, is also set to open next month, following the opening of a new Tube station, Battersea Power Station, which opened last year. More than 2,500 jobs are to be created with the opening of the landmark, with a total of 17,000 jobs when the whole 42-acre project has been finished. A consortium of Malaysian investors own the wider development of the area, with a mixed-use destination project chalking up to £9bn. “Announcing that we will be opening the building to the public for the first time in history in just over a month’s time is a monumental moment for the project,” Simon Murphy, chief executive officer at Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC), said.

Westminster

Property Week reports that workspace provider Huckletree is opening a new hub on Oxford Street, themed around the web and the metaverse. Jubilee House, comprising 22,000 sq ft of space, will be transformed into a new workspace concept. The new office features an NFT Creator Gallery, VR/gaming pods and decompression zones. The hub will also support new ways of flexible working with a range of spaces designed for different modes of work as well as breakout areas for collaboration, socialising and wellbeing, including a rooftop open terrace. Gabriela Hersham, co-founder and CEO at Huckletree, said: ”This latest opening for Huckletree not only marks a major milestone in our journey but also demonstrates our commitment to innovation and our ambition to back the most transformative emerging thinkers and players in the ecosystem. “Web3 and the metaverse have the potential to transform every industry as we know it, and the community working behind the scenes, be they on the investment or business side, are in need of a space to call home that can also be a platform for funding, deal-flow, ideas, talent and togetherness.

Property Week reports that The Portman Estate have announced two new signings for their flagship development One Great Cumberland Place ahead of its completion in October, Property Week can reveal. The ‘landmark’ signings include workspace provider x+why, which will occupy floors two, three and eight, and global private markets investment firm Adams Street Partners, which will occupy the seventh. x+why will provide a new flexible workspace offer for Marylebone and a pre-let has been agreed with Adams Street Partners with the development giving the firm a London office space occupying 7,600 sq ft. The introduction of x+why to One Great Cumberland Place will also create The Portman Estate’s first flexible workspace offer in their London portfolio. “We are incredibly excited to be partnering The Portman Estate on such a landmark building as One Great Cumberland Place,” said Rupert Dean, chief executive of x+why. “It has been clear from the outset that we are incredibly aligned.”

Property Week reports that GPE has let the last remaining office space at its 1 Newman Street, W1, development to investment firm AKO Capital Management (AKO) for its new HQ on the second floor. AKO has committed to a 10-year lease over 13,900 sq ft of prime office space and is due to move in early next year. This latest letting marks a total of 80,700 sq ft of office space leased at the scheme. AKO will join student housing provider Scape and global investment firm Marlin Equity Partners, which occupy the third and fourth floors, and Exane BNP Paribas, which pre-let the fifth, sixth and seventh floors during the construction of the development. Located directly opposite the entrance to the Elizabeth Line’s Dean Street exit at Tottenham Court Road, 1 Newman Street comprises of six floors of best-in-class offices with a large communal eighth-floor roof terrace. The building also benefits from the prime retail units located underneath at 70/88 Oxford Street. Competitive socialising operator Boom Battle Bar leased the entire basement space (15,600 sq ft), which will span its adventure bar and activities including Bavarian Axe Throwing. There are four further retail units available for brands looking to make their mark on Oxford Street.

General

Property Week reports that Truss named Clarke as her new levelling-up, housing and communities secretary following her leadership victory over rival candidate Rishi Sunak on Monday, winning 57.4% of votes cast in the ballot of Conservative Party members. The industry reacted by urging the new minister to tackle a “perfect storm” of problems ranging from a stark shortage of housing supply, the levelling-up agenda and carbon reduction to the ever-deepening energy crisis. Melanie Leech, chief executive at the British Property Federation, said Clarke would play a “critical role” in the prime minister’s plans. “We stand ready to work with the secretary of state to unlock billions of pounds of property investment that will transform places across the UK and we urge him to take decisive action quickly. The clock is ticking.” Steve Norris, chairman of Soho Estates, told Property Week that the new appointee was “promising material”.

City A.M. Flexible workspace provider WeWork has launched new incentives for London businesses to entice workers back into the city. The New York-headquartered company is working with BusinessLDN, with members of the advocacy group being offered access to new discounts. Businesses are able to access 50 per cent off WeWork’s All Access monthly membership fees for three months, for new members. Other incentives include discounts on private office space for up to 49 people, including a one month free deal for a three month commitment or two months free with a six month commitment. The company is looking to help firms build hybrid solutions for their teams, in order to woo employees who want a flexible approach to working at home and in a shared space. In recent months, London has seen a return of office workers since the easing of Covid restrictions. Many pubs and cafes in the Square Mile were hit hard by the loss of lunchtime and after-work trade when commuters shunned the capital in favour of their home offices. “The prosperity of our cities is directly tied to the success of the businesses within them, and WeWork is proud to continue to help build strong communities in an ever-evolving world,” Sandeep Mathrani, CEO and Chairman at WeWork said.