February 2013

Investment within the commercial sector has picked up since last year, as noted in a recent report by Knight Frank. Offices in Central London have seen the strongest investment over 2012, the best year since 2007, this improvement being a result of a sudden increase in the number of purchases...

A project by Great Portland Estates, at 33 Margaret Street, is set to be taken one step further by ISG, the company which beat off competition from Wates, Overbury, Mitie and Como to carry out a high-spec fit-out for property consultancy Savills.

The infamous BBC Television Centre known as The Doughnut, in White City, is about to go through a £200-million development, which will introduce a new hotel, as well as residential and office space into the area. It will also provide access for the public into the forecourt. This development will...

At its planning meeting on Wednesday 5th February Westminster City Council refused the American fashion trader Abercrombie & Fitch consent to convert the Grade II Listed Building at 3 Savile Row, Mayfair – which is in a Special Policy Area – into an Abercrombie Kids Store. The company’s flagship store...

Typical London ... we wait for big real estate players; and then two businesses come along at once …

Indirect means buying into a property investment without actually buying the property itself directly. For example, indirect investment might involve purchasing units in a company or scheme which does own the property investment. These can take several forms: 

On the 1st February London’s Mayor Boris Johnson cut the ribbon to welcome the first public visitors onto the threshold of the Shard. The building’s 310-metre futuristic tower rises over London Bridge, with a viewing platform on the 72nd floor.

Offices in the West End are now more expensive to lease than those in Hong Kong. Morgan Pryce, the London office agent, has observed that current top-end rents for offices in Mayfair can reach over £95 per square foot and around £75 in Knightsbridge.

ITV has bought 2.5 acres of the 22-storey tower that it occupies and in which its headquarters and studios are based, also known as the London Television Centre.  ITV acquired this plot from Coal Pension Properties for £56 million and will have to pay Coal Pension Properties an additional £6.5...

The demand for housing in Central London is getting greater and greater and many foreign investors feel that having a prestigious residential asset in London is vital. The number of overseas businesses and funds investing in the London commercial property market has taken off in the past year and a...