Good morning. Here’s your daily round-up of the latest news and views from EG and a collection of industry-relevant headlines from the nationals.
Oxford Properties Group and Logistics Capital Partners have secured planning permission to develop 340,000 sq ft of sustainable logistics space on a 15-acre brownfield site next to Heathrow Airport.
Oxford and LCP bought the site in 2020 from British Airways, which had been its owner-occupier for over 50 years, and latterly used it as a training facility.
The two companies cited an “acute” shortage of supply of high-quality logistics space in the well-established logistics hubs around Heathrow.
“Logistics remains a key sector for us given its strong income profile and robust occupier demand as a result of continued structural tailwinds – urbanisation, growth of e-commerce and a focus on onshoring and the strengthening of supply chains as a result of the long-term impact of the pandemic, as well as the broader political and economic macro environment,” head of development at Oxford Properties Robin Everall told EG.
Greystar and Student Roost were also toasting a sizeable nod for a development that helps them provide some much needed student beds in Bristol – some 577 in fact.
The mixed-use scheme, which will replace the NCP car park on Rupert Street, includes student accommodation and co-living studios.
It is within walking distance of the University of Bristol and the city centre.
New data from Savills suggests some 234,000 new student beds are needed to meet demand. It says that the UK’s 20 largest cities have more than 1.3m students, but just 500,000 available beds.
And in London the rebirth of the office continues with more deals being signed. HB Reavis has secured foreign exchange software company Wise for an 80,000 sq ft new HQ at its Worship Square office in Shoreditch, EC2.
Wise’s letting, along with a 33,000 sq ft lease for consultancy Frontier Economics and space for HB Reavis’s own co-working brand, takes the building to 98% full ahead of completion later this year.
Wise will move 1,000 members of staff into the office. Its existing office is in Derwent’s Tea Building on Shoreditch High Street, E2.
As interest in flex continues to grow, The Telegraph this morning reports that Blackstone has started holding informal talks over a potential £1.5bn exit from The Office Group, the flex operator in which it bought a majority stake in 2017.
And Helical has offloaded its 25 Charterhouse Square, EC1, office block to Ares Management for £43.5m – a 6.5% discount to its 30 September 2023 book value.
In the regions, government’s plans to relocate some 22,000 London-based civil servants is helping buoy the office market, with new plans for the latest hub just submitted to Darlington Council. Some 1,450 civil servants will move to the new four-storey block when it completes in 2027.
So far, 18,283 civil service roles have been relocated from London to locations across the UK with Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and Sheffield receiving the most roles under the Places for Growth plan, with more than 7,300 roles relocated to these cities since 2021.
Henry Boot boss Tim Roberts isn’t so happy with the government and lays into its consistent failure to reform the planning process as the firm reports solid figures but a decline in planning permissions for the year ended 31 December 2023.
And would you trust an AI with your land? The Geospatial Commission, with the Alan Turing Institute, certainly want you to and think they might have the answer for how best to put the UK’s land to use.
All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals:
Henry Boot boss lashes out at “consistent failure” of government
Helical sells Farringdon office for £43.5m
Plans for 340,000 sq ft Heathrow logistics scheme take flight
HB Reavis signs tech tenant for Shoreditch scheme
Greystar gets approval for 577-bed mixed-use scheme
Plans in for new £118m government hub
Grosvenor targets £900m of resi debt deals
COMMENT: How to fit out an office, the Scandinavian and sustainable way
Can AI make long-term decisions on land use?
UK Space Agency lands at Harwell Campus
Bar operator to double portfolio after investment boost
SHW announces new regional heads
Blackstone plots sale of £1.5m The Office Group (£)
Student bed shortage exceeds 230,000 (£)
Trump races to raise $454m bond on his property empire (£)
British homes ‘smaller, older and less affordable’ than those abroad (£) (Read the report in full here)
Mortgage rate cuts anticipated after inflation data and rates decision (£)
British retail sales hold steady in February (£)
Whitbread takes the axe to Beefeaters and Brewers Fayre pubs (£)
Man City owner Sheikh Mansour circles The Ivy as chain goes up for sale (£)
Chinese giant set to build UK’s biggest gigafactory (£)
US investment funds pull $13.3bn from BlackRock in anti-ESG campaign (£)
Gove battles Hunt to save leasehold plan (£)
‘Black hole’ in China’s £107tn real estate market could smash UK economy – dire warning
Part of billionaire family’s property empire named on London’s rogue landlord list
