JLL has got the love
Jones Lang LaSalle set the mood for its takeover of King Sturge at a meeting for the newly-formed firm in central London recently. The song You’ve got the love by Candi Staton and more recently made famous by the flame-haired singer of Florence + The Machine provided the backdrop to a video presentation that was flashed up on a screen. The song’s chorus goes: “Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air; I know I can count on you; Sometimes I feel like saying, ‘Lord, I just don’t care’; But you’ve got the love I need to see me through.” How very uplifting.
Can’t blame a chap for trying
For the large group of family and friends who turned up on Monday to see Ian McGarry sentenced for his part in a £49m mortgage fraud there was some consternation as to why a hearing that was due to start at 10am in the morning didn’t begin until after 3pm.
Apparently, the reason was a delay caused by McGarry’s co-accused Saghir Afzal, who like McGarry had pleaded guilty to charges of taking part in the fraud in January.
On hearing that all six of the solicitors also accused of mortgage fraud were to be acquitted, Afzal attempted to change his own plea to innocent – something that would have prompted a full trial and much further delay.
Despite nearly five hours of argument, Judge Beddoe refused.
Lipton lists his objections
This week culture secretary Jeremy Hunt rejected English Heritage’s recommendations that British Land’s and Blackstone’s Broadgate Square, EC2, should be given Grade II* listed status. The news was no doubt the cause of much delight for BL chief executive Chris Grigg.
Not only does this mean that Grigg and his team can get on with plans to flatten bits of the office complex and replace them with new offices for UBS, it also means he gets to thumb his nose at Broadgate’s previous owner, Chelsfield boss Sir Stuart Lipton, who developed it back in the 1980s and is none too keen on Grigg’s plans.
The potential listing caused a heated e-mail exchange between the two men which last week found its way into The Times. It began with Lipton suggesting that Grigg and others host a lunch for English Heritage chair Kay Andrews, which Grigg described as “some sort of joke”. Lipton went on to accuse Grigg of saying he “wanted nothing to do with the Lipton family”. Ouch.
Quality not quantity
There was a good deal of cheer in the property industry this week when the coalition government finally published its much heralded definition of “presumption in favour of sustainable development”.
The short paragraph, to be introduced with the Localism Bill this autumn, effectively means that local councils must approve development proposals if they are in line with local development plans.
Controversial indeed. But Diary wonders why it took the Department for Communities and Local Government 13 months to draft the 105-word definition – that works out at around eight words a month.
Aviva’s hot topic
It took 100 firefighters to put out a fire on top of Marconi House at the junction of Strand and Aldwych, WC2, on Tuesday. The London Fire Brigade said the blaze affected around a quarter of the 1,076 sq ft roof of the Frogmore and Galliard scheme. So a report released by Aviva the next day on the rising risk to commercial property seemed either timely, or a tad late. “Managing the interior of commercial properties to minimise fire risk is an obvious – and mostly well-executed – responsibility for property owners and facilities managers,” says Aviva property risk manager Allister Smith. “But it’s the exterior of business premises right now that are even more vulnerable to a blaze breaking out and need particular attention.” Thanks for the warning.
Murphy’s wardrobe
Allsop auctioneer Gary Murphy has a reputation for cutting a rather fine figure when he takes his place on the rostrum. But Diary was tickled to spot a lorry delivering two trolleys of freshly dry-cleaned outfits to Allsop’s Wigmore Street offices this week. Surely they can’t all be for the well-turned-out Mr Murphy’s wardrobe, can they?
