Camden

Property Week reports that King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership (KCCLP), owner of the King’s Cross estate in London, has appointed occupier experience technology group Locale at three of its residential developments. Locale will roll out its resident communications, amenity bookings and social and community engagement services to 368 homes across the Cadence, Capella and Gasholders developments, which together span more than 400,000 sq ft.

City of London

The City of London Corporation has launched public engagement to determine the Square Mile’s future. The City has launched a public engagement phase on its main planning and transport plans for the borough. Known as “City Plan 2040” and the “Transport Strategy” the proposals, subject to approval, will provide an overarching framework for future development in the Square Mile up to 2040, setting out the priorities for local businesses, residents and open spaces.

EG reports that owner Cardshops has applied to convert 131-133 Cannon street, EC4, into flats after securing just one viewing for the vacant offices in a year. Planning documents lodged with the City of London Corporation suggest the company could boost the value of the block by more than 50% if the application is successful.

EG news reports that Landsec has submitted plans for a 23-storey office block. The REIT is proposing the redevelopment of 55 and 65 Old Broad Street which it purchased for £87 million in 2020. It is now proposing a 23-storey office and retail block to replace 55, with a five-storey block in place of 65. The existing building was built in 1976 and comprises 12 stories bordering Wormwood Street and six stories facing into Old Broad Street.

City of Westminster

The Architect’s Journal reports that Dow Jones Architects has won a contest to work on the redevelopment of the Swiss Embassy in Marylebone, central London. The south London firm defeated Witherford Watson Mann, Dave Kohn Architects and Jonathan Tuckey to win the Swiss government’s commission to work with Zurich-based Studio DIA refurbish the embassy building.

Property Week reports that Industrial assets and London’s West End office market will be the only two property sectors to outperform the “all property average” during the next five years, according to an International Property Forum (IPF) report. The IPF spring forecast showed “robust rental growth” in the industrial sector as sector leaders forecast an upgraded five-year rise in rents of 3.3% a year, an improvement of 75 basis points from the previous report three months earlier.

BE News reports that Everyman Cinema has signed a 25-year lease for a 15,000 sq ft cinema spanning the ground floor and two basement levels at MARK and CC Land’s £1bn redevelopment of the former Whiteley department store in London.

Hackney 

The Architect’s Journal reports that Hackney Council has approved Mowat & Company’s transformation of an old haberdashery in Dalston, east London, into flats and revamped commercial space. The £5.4 million project, for developer Benyon Properties and William Gee Haberdashers, sits in a conservation area at the junction of Kingsland Road and Forest Road in Dalston and covers 1,280m².The cluster of Victorian warehouses will be adapted into nine new homes and 382m² of commercial office and retail employment spaces. It is expected to be completed by autumn.

Hammersmith & Fulham

Hammersmith and Fulham planning committee have approved plans for the redevelopment of Lille Road in north Fulham, providing 42 new homes at 50% affordable. The development will also feature flexible community buildings and will range up to 5 storeys.

Islington

The Islington Tribune reports that campaigners are continuing their opposition to Ocado’s proposed distribution depot at Foxham Road in Tufnell Park as the company prepares for another round of appeals. Ocado have been proposing a 24/7 distribution facility on the site since 2019, but campaigners claim that the location is too close to Yerbury Primary School and poses an environmental health threat to local children.

Kensington & Chelsea

Property Week reports that Singaporean investor KOP Group has purchased the Burns Hotel in London’s Earl’s Court for a guide price of £35m and plans to transform the site into a luxury boutique hotel. The 105-bedroom hotel will now undergo an extensive renovation to become a luxury hotel, which will be operated by Montigo Resorts, the hospitality arm of KOP, when it opens in the first quarter of 2024.

Southwark

EG News reports that Southwark Council has approved plans for the redevelopment of Minerva House on the South Bank. The Ben Adams Architects scheme is seeking to re-use and extend the 103,700 sqft office building, which currently includes both office an residential space.

The Architect’s Journal reports that Southwark Council has appointed Graeme Massie Architects and Scott Whitby Studio to draw-up detailed designs for a public square in Peckham, south London. The Edinburgh and London-based practices were named last week (1 June) as the new design team for the £6 million council-led Peckham Square project, taking over from Spheron Architects. Spheron won a council-organised contest in early 2021 to rethink the public spaces outside Will Alsop’s Stirling Prize-winning Peckham Library, It remains unclear why it no longer has a lead role on the scheme.

Wandsworth

Property Week reports that Apple is to open a major new store at Battersea Power Station next to its 500,000 sq ft headquarters at the landmark redevelopment. In a statement, the tech giant said the “highly anticipated” Apple Battersea store will open on 15 June, and while the company has remained quiet about the size and specifications of the store, a large advertising board reading ‘Apple Battersea: Let’s Build Something’ has been erected. The new site sits adjacent to Apple’s 500,000 sqft headquarter offices which take up six storeys of the building’s central Boiler House, which it moved into last year.

General

EG reports that British Land will formally drop out of the FTSE 100 later this month. The REIT, which has been part of the index for 21 years, will be replaced by engineering stock IMI as a result of FTSE Russell’s June 2023 review. Earlier this month BL reported a £1 billion loss on the back of falling capital values.

Property Week reports that the British Property Federation (BPF) voted to stand by the under-fire Confederation of British Industry (CBI) at a crunch meeting on Tuesday. A number of property groups and investors, including JLL, quit the CBI last month in the wake of more than a dozen allegations of sexual misconduct from women who worked for the body. High-profile retailers, including John Lewis Partnership, Kingfisher, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Tesco also quit the business group.