Recently in Liverpool Category

3629960311_f92abb091e.jpgLiverpool Football Club announced plans to increase the capacity of its Anfield stadium this week, from 45,000 to 60,000, writes Simon Binns.

Essentially, the club has joined an already existing partnership between the local council and housing association Your Housing, who are carrying out a £25m redevelopment programme around the stadium.

Anfield is a rare thing in terms of modern top flight stadia - tightly surrounded by residential streets in an era where the trend has been to build new out of town structures while the old site is sold, invariably for new housing. Several of those neighbouring streets will have to go, however, to accommodate Liverpool's own £150m DIY project.

The club claims the local community and home owners are 'supportive' of the proposed expansion. If they look further down the M62 however, they will need to take heed of the problems faced by the club that Liverpool - and the rest of the Premier League - are trying to catch.

The 'money no object' approach of Manchester City, now owned by Abu Dhabi's seemingly bottomless sovereign wealth fund, has brought success on the pitch. It has also brought forward hugely ambitious plans for a £100m training academy and campus around its Etihad Stadium, similar to that of Barcelona's Nou Camp, on an 80-acre site that used to be a gas works.

The community engagement programme carried out by the club was some of the slickest and thorough I've ever seen. Yet the club still had to spend six months negotiating with a truculent local landowner, resulting in a compulsory purchase order and unwanted media attention.

Shaun O'Brien, owner of OB Truck Services, took on the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, dividing up land he owned around the stadium into 5,000 individual sq ft plots to try and disrupt any CPO attempt. He claimed the club refused to 'negotiate reasonably' and priced the plots at £250 each.

Manchester City Council claimed O'Brien was trying to hold the land - and the club - to ransom. The CPO was finally granted in August.

Liverpool has already referenced the 'complex planning landscape' around a redevelopment such as this. Putting a loft conversion in is one thing - making room for an extra 15,000 to regularly come into the area is quite another.

Another factor is success on the pitch. Will Fenway ultimately invest in their franchise if Liverpool continue to drift away from the top four or five clubs?

If Liverpool do take anything from Manchester City though, it should be that while sensitivity will win you friends, ultimately, hardball will take out your enemies. On and off the pitch.

Simon Binns is Estates Gazette's north of England correspondent
Picture by Ben Sutherland on Flickr

The best and the worst of the regional office markets in Q1

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Knight Frank released its amusingly named ROMP report yesterday (that's Regional Office Market Presentation - just don't google ROMP on its own on your office computer - well maybe a colleagues) in which it compares and contrasts the market performance in 11 regional cities around the UK. 

One of the most interesting graphs within the report shows Q1 2012 take up vs the average quarterly take up for 2011 ie how well has each city done this year so far? Now you have to look at the figures in context but before we do that here is how the 11 cities rank in terms of take up in Q1 2012 vs its 2011 quarterly average:

  1. Leeds +50%
  2. Glasgow +32%
  3. Edinburgh +23%
  4. Manchester -5%
  5. Liverpool -11%
  6. Bristol -16%
  7. Sheffield -29%
  8. Cardiff -40%
  9. Aberdeen -165%
  10. Birmingham -209%
  11. Newcastle -376%
Now the context bit, Leeds had a good 2011 but it was its first year of increased take up since 2007 and the Q1 figure includes one particularly large deal of over 60,000 sq ft (Medical Protection Society's purchase of 2 & 3 Victoria Place). 

Glasgow and Edinburgh on the other hand, while having had storming starts to Q1 compared to everywhere else, actually didn't have great 2011 for office take up so they are coming from a lower base.

The flip side of that is Aberdeen which looks like it has had a terrible start to the year when in fact it had a phenomenal 2011 recording the highest average quarterly take up of all 11 cities and it still ranks the fifth highest take up for Q1 2012.

And then there is Newcastle, while there was a brief filip last year, office take up in the city actually peaked in 2004. Ouch.

Will Peel do a Maggie Thatcher and abandon Liverpool

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Liverpool Waters (Feb 2012) from Rust Studios on Vimeo.


This time next week Peel Holdings might have a decision on Liverpool waters. Might. The grand plans (think Shanghai on the Mersey) will go before Liverpool council a week today, on the 6th March, and it's unveiled a video of how the waterside could look. 

The decision is unlikely to slip through quietly. English Heritage has quite vocally objected to the scheme. UNESCO has threatened to strip the city of its World Heritage status unless plans are changed. Now Peel are also playing hard ball and have said it will walk away if planning permission isn't given next week or, if plans are called into public inquiry.

The council, the government and Liverpool's property industry are stuck in the middle. It's probably a fair assumption that the council will be keen to give the scheme the nod, but it's naiive to think a scheme of this size - and one this controversial - will escape being wafted under Eric Pickles nose. If that happens will Peel really do a "Magaret Thatcher" and look at abandoning Liverpool or is this just drum banging? Given the scale and scope of the scheme - to say nothing of the financial commitment made so far by Peel - that is probably unlikely, but, given the current state of Liverpool's property markets, you could see why it might be tempting.

Welcome back, this is what you missed...

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Happy New Year and welcome back to all of you who are still struggling to get your heads around this work thing.

The Focus desk is now back and once more on the hunt for stories and ideas for our regional features. 

But to settle you back in gently we've rounded up a selection of the hottest regional stories from over the Christmas break to bring you bang up to date with what happened while you were away.

Retail sales saw a last minute boost. The BRC said shoppers numbers were up sharply in the week before Christmas as promotions and discounts started.
High street and shopping centres fared best but out of town locations saw smallest rises.

Hammerson said the 27th December was the busiest shopping day with over 900,000 people visiting its portfolio of ten regional shopping centres. Big ticket items such as laptops and flat screen tvs proved most popular.

Oak Holdings could pursue a compensation claim against Rotherham Metropolitan Brough Council following the loss of its management contract.

The FT reported that Wagamamas looks to open "at least200" smaller format restaurants at stations and aiprorts as part of a report looking at the outlook for the UK restaurant market

Names were released for the 18 Barratts and Priceless stores to close after Barratts Priceless goes into administration. The Business Desk reported that Barratts hometurf was not safe with  Leeds Crossgate outlet one to go.

The Lace Market office development in Nottingham got planning in the dying days of last year. But the decision has been widely criticised.


In Cardiff the city council adopted a saturation zone to limit the spread of new bars and clubs in cardiff city centre. Already there are fears it will simply  spread the drinking zone although some will undoubtedly be wondering about its efficacy as just days after the announcement a restaurant wins a legal appeal to serve alcohol in the zone.

Picture from Flickr by Kay la la

UK town centre winners and losers over last 13 years

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meat.jpgIt's a meaty 100 page report but the National Survey of Local Shopping Centre's and CBRE's new research on changes to shopping catchment populations for comparison goods may cause some indigestion. That is, if you are a developer, agent or local authority that has ever sat back and said: 'Of course that new shopping centre development can only benefit the wider area.'

Planners take note: those benefits always come at a cost. The research, which surveyed actual shopping habits over a period from 1998 to 2009, shows that even though the population of the country has grown overall (it hasn't been consistent across all parts of the UK) the major city centres lost between 0.25% and 3.51% of their comparison spend catchment population.

Glasgow is a good example or bad if you look at it that way. The city centre's catchment population growth was weak compared to other parts of the UK but was weakened further as shoppers chose to go out of town to new shopping centres: Braehead and Silverburn

The extension to the Buchanan Galleries shopping centre, which is by no means a certainty, would help mitigate that loss. However, I can't help thinking back to conversations with Glasgow city council's planners when they'd just given planning permission for Silverburn in which they insisted Glasgow city centre was strong enough to withstand further out of town development. Well they were right but only if you class keeping head above water as wholly positive. 

The key drivers for change in catchment shopper population are new retail, changes in transport/access and underlying population change. Mapping the trends in catchment growth post the opening of a new scheme shows that growth continues for several years after opening. 

It means that city centres like Liverpool, where Liverpool One opened in 2008, has yet to reap the benefit of a fully increased catchment. Likewise Bristol city centre and Cabot Circus. There is, however, a threshold. Once a town centre has a full range of retail on offer and there is no further new development, growth in shopper numbers reaches a plateau.
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This week's round-up is more like a Martina Cole novel than a property review, with villians and champagne bars all hitting the headlines. It's also one year on since the creation of LEPs and respected research and policy unit Centre for Cities, aren't impressed. Below we've trawled the web for all the best property coverage of these stories, and more, and rounded them up here.

LEPs: limited progress and boards are bloated and slow, says study
Happy birthday LEPs! It's one year since the government created LEPs and their first present on Friday was a report from Centre for Cities saying LEPs had made limited progress. The Insider, reporting on the study, said eight have yet to have their boards recognised by the government and only two have produced a long term strategic plan. Five do not have a dedicated website. Most have appointed huge boards and advisory teams which could add a level of bureaucracy and process that might slow decision-making.

Ouch! As such it wasn't the best day for former Northern Foods chairman Lord Haskin to be announced as the head of Humber LEP.

Some pounced to counter the attack with Andy Wood, head of New Anglia LEP, defending their record in the EADT24. He said the LEP was a "small but focused board with a clear set of priorities." 

With all the furore surrounding LEPs its seems some are already missing the RDAs.

RDAs: Come back all is forgiven 
"It helped give everyone a focal point, and I certainly didn't regard it as one of the regional development agencies that would be done away with," Iain Blatherwick, managing partner at Browne Jacobson told the Insider. "Now that the LEP is manned with volunteers, I think it gives everyone a better understanding of the role EMDA played."
The D2N2 LEP - which represents Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
- now need some quick wins, he added, to gain credibility.

Simon Morris jailed
If you want it bad enough then take it, says the strapline on Martina Cole's novel. It seems Simon Morris, the disgraced property professional and former Leeds United director, did and he had his heavies help him. On Tuesday he was jailed for 18 months for his part in a blackmail plot against a former business partner.
By Wesdnesday the Yorkshire Post was reporting that his trial would be reviewed for irregularities. The criminal cases review commission now have three weeks to report back.

Friday fizz
And because it's Friday and we like a bit of champagne-induced cheer on the Focus desk we couldn't resist this story. 
Manchester's private members' club The Circle Club is looking to set up champagne bars in Liverpool One, Birmingham's Bullring and Bristol Cabot Circus. MD Craig Ince said trading was up 20% on forecast. Recession? What recession?

North West Focus Synopsis

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Published 19th November 2011 

Industrial
What next for the region's shed market?
Daniel Cunningham, senior writer, 020 7911 1822, Daniel.cunningham@estatesgazette.com

Chester
Analysis of development proposals
David Thame, freelance writer, 01544 262 896, dthame@clara.co.uk

Liverpool
Liverpool on the world stage. How important is the city's status?
David Thame, freelance writer, 01544 262 896, dthame@clara.co.uk 

Market healthcheck
Contact Nadia Elghamry, deputy regional editor if you think you can provide up to date figures for all sectors of the North West market.  

Feature will include predictions for the market. Direct Message @EGNadiaElghamry on Twitter with your thoughts about the market or email nadia.elghamry@estatesgazette.com saying where you think the market will be this time next year in no more than 140 characters.

Nadia Elghamry, deputy regional editor, 020 7911 1849, nadia.elghamry@estatesgazette.com

Riots: The North West counts the cost

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It seems Manchester is back to work despite a lot of predominantly retail property being damaged during last night's rioting in the city centre.

Bruntwood, central Manchester's largest office landlord, has reported around 20 incidents at 11 buildings in the Piccadilly area of the city and chief executive Chris Oglesby has stated that the firm is working with tenants to get them up and running again.

One property company which was directly affected was Sanderson Weatherall, which saw three windows at its Spring Gardens office smashed as a fierce attack on a next door Sainsbury's store spilled over.

Tim Catterall from Sanderson Weatherall told me that nobody from the firm was hurt and that his Manchester colleagues have told him that the council had cleared up debris before they arrived for work.

It seems that city's shops have taken the brunt of the looters' vandalism. Most notably, the Miss Selfridge store on the busy Market Street shopping drag was set alight during the late afternoon, as caputured on video.

The main shopping streets affected seem to be Market Street, St Ann's Square, Deansgate and the upmarket King Street. In the latter, former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher's new boutique, Pretty Green was ransacked, and the Bang & Olufsen electronics store was broken into and cleared out.

The city's main shopping scheme, PRUPIM and Capital Shopping Centres' Arndale centre was also hit, with footage showing youths raiding the Foot Asylum store.

Second night of rioting in regional cities - reports round up

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The worst of the rioting and disorder, as witnessed in London on Monday night, has spread to England's cities with Manchester and Birmingham seeing the most damage and disruption.

Manchester

The Business Desk North West reports on how retailers from big chains, to independents and high end fashion were targeted in the city.

The Manchester Evening News reports on how Salford and Manchester descended into chaos.

And here is an eye witness account from local news service BlottR

The Manchester clean up operation organised via Twitter has already started @RiotCleanUpManc

Birmingham
It was a second night of disorder for the city with many shops shutting up early.

Our Midlands Editor Lisa Pilkington was tweeting updates through into the early ours and you can catch up with her Tweets @EGLisaP

Business Desk West Midlands reports on the tragic deaths of three men and how violence spread from the city centre to Wolverhampton and West Bromwich

The Birmingham Post reports on a city centre that shut down early and has details of the events that followed.

Redbrick the Birmingham's student paper has a time line of events from the two days with comments and Twitter feed.

Liverpool
Violence flared again in the city and spreading to the Wirral. The Liverpool Echo has a report and pictures.

The Liverpool Post also reports on how the violence centred on Smithdown Road once again.

Nottingham
The East Midlands city saw its first night of violence with the Victoria Centre coming under attack according to This is Nottingham they also have an eye witness account from the Kelham Green area of the city

Riot reports from around the country

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riot.jpgReactions from those areas outside London affected by the riots last night:

Bristol:
Eye witness accounts and reactions for businesses affected from This Is Bristol
Pictures of the damage: Small World News Service

Liverpool:
Report and pictures from the Liverpool Echo and an eye witness account

Birmingham:
Picture slide show from the Birmingham Post plus full report and eyewitness account
And news of the Twitter-led clean up campaign in Birmingham

On EGi news:
Bristol riots hit Cabot Circus
Mailbox attacked as rioting spreads to Birmingham
BPF fears for SME's properties following riots

Picture of riot damage in Liverpool by Andy Miah on Flickr

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