Birmingham landmark on sale in cut-price deal as value slashed in half March 11, 2025 A landmark office building in Birmingham city centre has been put up for sale for half what it was bought for in 2019. The Lewis Building and its adjoining neighbour Priory Court in Bull Street were acquired by Gulf Islamic Investments for £140m. The investor, which has offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, bought the [...]
‘Prohibitive building costs’ stunting UK growth projects – Deloitte February 4, 2025 “Prohibitive costs” involved in construction projects in major UK cities led to a sharp decline in the number of new developments breaking ground in 2024, according to a new report from Deloitte. Deloitte’s latest Regional Crane Surveys, which covers the central areas of Belfast, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, has revealed the number of new starts [...]
Major lifeline for Wembley Park developer after huge losses January 23, 2025 The developer behind London’s Wembley Park transformation has secured a huge funding boost just months after losses of more than £700m were revealed. Quintain has completed the refinancing of London Designer Outlet and build-to-rent development Ferrum at the site with a £233.6m loan from Bank of America. The deal comes after CityAM reported in [...]
Savills: End of work from home drives recovery in office property market January 16, 2025 International property services company Savills has predicted a strong commercial property market this year driven by cheaper financing, the sustainability agenda and workers’ return to the office. The FTSE 250-listed firm told the market this morning that while it expected challenging conditions to continue, “most markets are in recovery”. However, the firm added that geopolitical uncertainty, [...]
FTSE 100 giant Auto Trader gears up for £87m HQ move January 13, 2025 FTSE 100 giant Auto Trader has confirmed plans to relocate its headquarters from a building named after a Manchester legend to a new base worth £87m. The company is to leave its home at 1 Tony Wilson Place in First Street and move to Bruntwood SciTech’s 3 Circle Square in 2026. Auto Trader has been [...]
London commercial property starts year strong with huge Baker Street let January 9, 2025 A British-based property company has fully let a Baker Street office space at a significant premium to the estimated value in an excellent start to the commercial market in 2025. Derwent London has pre-let 204,300 sq ft of office space to five tenants at its 25 Baker Street W1 development, which will complete later in [...]
London’s flexible office workers shift to four days a week December 16, 2024 Workers in London’s flexible office space have increased the number of days at their desk, despite sentiment that Londoners were unlikely to return to pre-covid working patterns. Three quarters of workers in flexible offices now use the working space at least four days a week, according to fresh data from Knight Frank. This comes amid [...]
Wembley Park developer loses over £700m December 9, 2024 The company behind the transformation of Wembley Park in London lost more than £700m during its latest financial year, it has been revealed. Quintain has reported a pre-tax loss of £721.7m for 2023, delayed accounts just filed with Companies House show. The loss comes after the business reported a pre-tax profit of £139.7m in 2022. [...]
City rents rise as return to the office drives up demand for prime locations December 3, 2024 Available office space in London’s most sought-after areas has slumped to near record lows as businesses continue to reverse pandemic-era working from home rules. According to global property consultancy Knight Frank, availability in newly constructed office buildings has fallen to 0.3 per cent in the West End Core – which includes Mayfair and St James’s [...]
London’s commercial property market to keep growing as staff ordered back to the office November 26, 2024 The green shoots which sprang up earlier this year in London’s commercial property market look set to continue into 2025, with real estate companies looking at a “cyclical growth opportunity”. London-listed property development firm Helical reported a minor recovery in the value of its property portfolio after several years of market uncertainty this morning. Its [...]