Recently in Investment Category

Mills and Reeve's Cambridge HQ at the end of Station Road is the closest to completion but Microsoft's office just a hop, skip and a jump towards the station on Brookgate's CB1 site isn't far behind. We hear the IT giant will be handed its keys just days before Christmas, although that deadline will probably slip into the New Year. You can see the boxes through the window in the picture so work onthe fit-out is definitely cracking on.

At Mills and Reeve it is now official that a floor has been sublet to KPMG, a deal we've been tipping since the start of the year. What happens to the accountants existing headquarters on Hills Road, is less clear but it's rumoured that the building is under offer. A likely contender is Pace Investment's Johnny Vincent, owner of the site the new Mills and Reeve office sits on.

We haven't backed that up at present but it's not a huge leap of imagination and it would mirror the deal that Johnny did with Mills and Reeve to secure it's requirement.

Both buildings were prelets although there is probably going to be some speculative development very soon when Brookgate cracks on with the Mott MacDonald prelet it secured back in July at CB1. If they do, then they'll probably do well. The lure of having Microsoft on your doorstep, in a city centre location, next to the station, in a new Grade A office, in Cambridge will be too big an opportunity to miss out on for many smaller occupiers in the market. 

There's no disputing that it is a landmark building but it is tired, worn and Admiral which occupy the lion's share of space in the tower, are due to vacate for it's shiny new headquarters (£) in under three years. So why would you buy a building where the triple A covenant is about to leave?

Local agents are in two minds. Some think (probably hope) that Admiral will stay in the building as the insurer continues to expand. However, industry experts say that the insurance market is now slowing and expansion plans at Admiral have become more modest than they were.

So, that leaves letting the space. Here, the agents are split. Some, such as Peter Graham, director at Stephenson Alexander, think it would be a long hard slog to let the building floor by floor. Others such as Mark Sutton at Knight Frank, believe that's where the market is. Both agree that finding a single occupier for up to 80,000 sq ft would be a tall order in the current market.

But, with Topland Estates currently looking to retain an agent for the building nobody is prepared to rule it out and potentially talk themselves out of a juicy commission.

This week's IPD figures are hardly going to have cheered anyone up. Last month saw the steepest drop (£) since values begin to pale back in November. So how does it feel to be an investment agent on the ground?

EG caught up Rob Tudor, partner at Tudor Toone, a Mayfair-based boutique investment business. Tudor has been in the business for the past couple of decades and has seen markets come and go. For them operating the business in a recession is easier in some ways to a bull market - click below to listen to exactly why he thinks this.

He says investment volumes are down significantly and he cannot see that changing for some time, but there are pockets of value mainly in the home counties and London in particular.

Having taken the plunge and set up his own firm in the late 90s Tudor offers a cautiounary note for anyone thinking of setting up today. The market is very competitive he says there are plently of big firms that offer a full compliment of skill sets and some very strong niche firms - what would you really bring to the table? he questions.

His number one concern, like most of us, is Europe. The effects are already reverberating into the UK market and he warns, if clients are not confident they will not proceed with any plans.

At last we know the who the lucky agent behind the Granta Park deal to BioMed Realty actually is.

EG revealed the buyer (£) at the end of last month, ahead of the formal announcement a week ago, but the identity of the agents behind the US REIT has been the subject of much debate and head scratching. So it was a bit of a surprise to hear our international man of mystery is Michael Jones of Dodson Jones.

Nobody doubts the firms acumen or its ability to deliver such a deal it's just been a surprise that it is wasn't one of the big Cambridge boys, or an ex-MEPC (who sold the park) member of staff. The rumour mill got it wrong, convinced as it was that the agent was a one-man-band, a sole agent who used to work at MEPC.

Michael Jones is apparently on holiday this week and probably earning a well earned rest after the mayhem of the last few weeks but talk is that Jones bumped into BioMed Realty on a trip to the States a few years ago. It just goes to show that you never know where a chance meeting will lead. We'll be trying to coax Mike out of the shadows when he's back at his desk next week but for the time being we'll let him enjoy that undoubtedly juicy fee - at £126.8m this was one of the largest transactions ever, outside of London.

Now all eyes turn to Granta Park and what will happen to it. Who will be retained as local agents, how long will MEPC stay on and how will the park be  marketed. TWI still own part of the park at the back by the riverside. Will the new owners continue to work with them?

• We had (wrongly) pointed the finger at John Granger, ex-managing director at MEPC, as the agent behind the Granta Park deal but, it seems while he will be making a reappearance in the big agency scene, he's been in touch to say it wasn't this. John is set to join Cheffins at the start of July. Cheffins has been light on the agency side since Ben Green joined Barker Storey Matthews at the start of the year.

 

Related blog posts: 

Cambridge set to register quarter two wash-out

Cambridge's Spicer Sawston site comes to market

US REIT strikes deal to buy Granta Park Cambridge

 

Picture by andrew morrell on Flickr

One of Cambridge's best kept secrets was cracked open today. We now know who's buying MEPC's Granta Park. 

BioMed Realty Trust is paying £133m in one of the largest investment deals of a single asset outside London. The story is on EGi here (£). The deal is expected to close before the long weekend and as far as leaks over the buyer go, it's been a remarkably tight ship, especially in an industry famed for its gossip and a market as compact as Cambridge. 

But what most agents will be itching to hear is who is behind this mystery US REIT and just who did the deal with them. 

So who is our secret agent?

Agents for MEPC were JLL, that much is widely known, but the identity of Bio Med Realty's man is a little more hazy. 

Talk is that it is a UK-based one man band that has formerly worked for MEPC. That's as much as anyone knows. Cambridge veterans will probably point to John Granger, who left Granta Park as its managing director in October 2009. After a stint working for the administrators of Rubicon Europe, in July last year he struck out on his own and became sole principal of his own firm. John, if you're out there, get in touch with us and let us know? Are you our mystery man? 

UPDATED: We now know the identity of our international secret agent, it's not John Granger, we got that wrong. All the details are here).

Little too is know of Bio Med Realty. It currently owns $4.25bn of science related properties throughout the US but is virtually unknown in the Cambridge market. It owns or has interests in 12.5m sq ft and says it is target markets are Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and New York/New Jersey to name but a few. There's little talk of interest in international property. 

What's clear is, at the amount paid for Granta Park, MEPC have signed a cracking deal. MEPC and its agents have declined to comment but it's thought it will stay on to manage the asset - at least in the short term. This means not only does it get to pocket the proceeds of the sale but also a management fee. Nice work if you can get it. 

Picture by Johanoomen on Flickr

George Osborne opened up his piggy bank this lunchtime. Heaving the national level stuff to one side here's what Osborne's budget will mean for the regions:

While others are busy swimming downstream, bunkering down in the south east of the country Development Securities seems to be buying in the regions.

With the Irish government today appearing to do a u-turn on upward only rent reviews the industry is back to square one. CBRE Ireland has called on Minister Alan Shatter to confirm its plans. Marie Hunt is Executive Director at CBRE Ireland's Research and Consultancy is asking for clarity now.

"An entire year has been wasted. Investments have been lost while the Government has deliberated on upward only rent reviews.

It is incumbent on the Minister to advise sooner rather than later on whether this legislation is going ahead and if so to give some timelines on its likely implementation. This is the single biggest issue being speculated on in the commercial property sector in Ireland since the beginning of 2011

Having promised on numerous occasions in recent months that the publication of the legislation was 'imminent' , there have been a number of leaks in recent days suggesting that the Government may be about to do a U-turn and not introduce this legislation at all. For this reason, CBRE are now calling on the Minister to confirm or deny if this is indeed the case.