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Occupiers are looking to ditch space as their energy bills soar. The trend is already being seen in the serviced office sector, with ISS boss Jacob Aarup-Andersen saying clients are cramming staff onto fewer floors and shutting down services to save on mounting bills.
Meanwhile, shares in IWG have hit a near three-month high following reports that private equity firms are eyeing its digital arm. CVC Capital Partners is reportedly in talks to pay £1.5bn for platform, which IWG merged with Instant Group in March in a £320m deal. The boost has not been enough to completely transform the fortunes of IWG, which has lost 40% of its value this year.
Wellies and waterproofs retailer Joules is mulling a CVA after warning it may default on a bank loan at the end of this month.
And retailers are bracing for a tough Christmas period as two reports warn that customers will tighten their belts.
Germany’s Aareal Bank has inked a £240m deal to refinance a hotel portfolio bought by an opportunity fund advised by Tristan Capital Partners. The hotels comprise 1,387 bedrooms across nine hotels in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Sheffield Hallam University has become the first occupier to sign up for space in the business hub at the heart of Related Argent’s £8bn Brent Cross development. The 110,000 sq ft site will be the university’s first campus outside of Sheffield.
Hammerson is confident it will earn more than £100m this year as its turnaround plan continues.
And Landsec has let space to activewear brand Sweaty Betty at three of its retail locations in London, Oxford and Portsmouth.
Teesport has been officially selected as the site for a £600m lithium refinery.
As the Grenfell Tower inquiry draws to a close, lawyers have compiled a “rogues’ gallery” of organisations they hold accountable for the tragedy and want to see prosecuted.
In other residential news, house prices have fallen at the sharpest rate in almost two years.
And Guy Hands has withdrawn a £105m offer to repair “appalling” military housing, saying it was contingent on the Ministry of Defence dropping plans to forcibly buy the homes back.
What do successful relationships and regeneration have in common? According to EcoWorld London boss Heng Leong Cheong, quite a lot.
There is so much we can learn from the US when it comes to adopting proptech. But then, there are a few things they could learn from us, writes GPE director of innovation James Pellatt. Perhaps it is time for a mid-Atlantic meeting of minds?
Oaktree Capital has sold a 2.2m sq ft plot of Hong Kong land it seized from Evergrande for $637m. That will cover the debts, but represents a discount of $770m.
