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North West Focus Synopsis

By Nadia Elghamry on May 14, 2012 10:56 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Published June 23, 2012

Elected mayors
What can elected mayors do for the property industry
Mark Simmons, freelance writer, 07787 561032, msimmons@sourceform.co.uk

Industrial
Analysis of the regeneration plans
David Thame, freelance writer, 01544 262 896
dthame@clara.co.uk

Offices 
Analysis of the future of the market
Alex Hawkes, freelance writer, 07830 126 632, hawkes.alex@gmail.com 

Retail
Analysis of the strength of the market and its prospects.
David Thame, freelance writer, 01544 262 896, dthame@clara.co.uk

Regeneration
Analysis of the future of the market
David Thame, freelance writer, 01544 262 896, dthame@clara.co.uk

Market healthcheck
Please send up to date statistics for the offices, retail and industrial market to Daniel Cunningham, north west reporter, 020 7911 1822, Daniel.cunningham@estatesgazette.com

Please contact the writers directly for more details about their individual features by Monday 28th May, 2012

Savills and MAG Developments lift NW gongs in EG's regional awards

By Daniel Cunningham on May 4, 2012 10:24 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
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Savills and MAG Developments were the toast of Manchester last night as they emerged victorious to accept EG's North West awards for 2012.

The awards were presented at the RICS's North West Awards ceremony - a swanky balck tie affair held at The Point - the modern conference centre at Old Trafford cricket ground.

Savills' James Evans, Alex Palfreyman and Richard Lowe were on hand to accept the North West Property Advisor of the Year 

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award (above right), while it's fair to say that MAG Developments mounted something of a stage invasion (pictured right) as the firm was named North West Property Company of the Year.

A group of staff from the developer - which is the property arm of Manchester Airports Group and is behind the planned Airport City scheme in Manchester - proudly crowded the stage to collect the award. "It's a team effort", chief executive John Atkins said as he accepted it.

Comedian and broadcaster Tony Hawks was the night's compere, joking with the audience that anyone with teenage children had probably led them to expect US skateboard supremo Tony Hawk.

Other EG regional award winners' presentations:

East Midlands

Wales & South West



Watch: Take a look at Manchester's Noma Hanover building

By Nadia Elghamry on March 15, 2012 8:57 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
A fly through video of the Co-operative Group's Noma development in Manchester has come through this morning.  So if you fancy a nosy at how their refurbishment of the 105, 000 sq ft Hanover building might look, it's all below. The Co-op are yet to find a development partner (£) to help with the £800m scheme but is currently working up plans for the Hanover building. 

Three guesses which retailer they might like on the bottom floor (clue: the fly through shows an "@ store dot com" store in residence)


Will Peel do a Maggie Thatcher and abandon Liverpool

By Nadia Elghamry on February 28, 2012 12:00 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

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.

Listen: Manchester sees shift from traditional Grade A offices

By Nadia Elghamry on February 10, 2012 2:14 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

The  lack of development finance in the market is forcing office developers to consider alternatives to traditional grade A product, so says Allied London's chief executive Mike Ingall.

Ingall spoke to EG's Daniel Cunningham this week at the annual North West reception at Manchester's Epernay champagne bar.

You can listen to the full interview by clicking below in which Ingall explains how developers will focus less on the traditional grade A office building. "There will be scope in the next year to 18 months to do something a little bit different," he says.

Mike Hawkins, partner with WHR Property Consultants says that there are 1m sq ft of unsatisfied large requirements focussed on Manchester with new entrants into the city from London and other UK cities.



There are pictures and a review of the North West Focus reception here

Guest post: Sunderland council hits back at Centre for Cities report

By Nadia Elghamry on January 24, 2012 2:25 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Yesterday's post based on the Centre for Cities report has provoked an angry reaction from Sunderland. The local council leader has been in touch to says he takes exception to the report and has been contacted by several large and international companies that, he says, would feel the same way. Here's what he has to say about Centre for Cities:
 
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Councillor Paul Watson is the leader of Sunderland City Council

"Centre for Cities has been producing its annual Outlook report for several years now and some of its statistics continue to put Sunderland towards the bottom of the pack.

That's not how it looks from here and there's little or no recognition of how things are actually going in the city.

During 2010 and 2011, two of the toughest years this country has faced for decades, we attracted significant new investment, cemented our reputation as the UK's automotive centre, were awarded an enterprise zone and secured funding to build the New Wear Crossing.

To be frank, we are not interested in being compared with London - we are more interested in ensuring we continue to secure the economic development necessary for the city to continue its growth.

In a report published jointly in October 2011 by Centre for Cities, Sunderland City Council and PWC Hidden potential: Supporting growth in Sunderland and similar cities, Centre for Cities concluded: "The strong growth of the private sectors of some of England's 'mid-tier' cities demonstrates the economic potential that they have".

This latest report reflects a moment in time and does not represent the considerable progress made across Sunderland in recent years.

We are continuing to help create new jobs, improve educational achievement, increase what are already record levels of investment and work towards further improvements."

Continue reading Guest post: Sunderland council hits back at Centre for Cities report.


The North West industrial power list; agree with our selection?

By Daniel Cunningham on November 18, 2011 8:01 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

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Who's got the power in the North West industrial sector? In our North West Focus in this Saturday's magazine we've published the 'power list' of agents and developers in the region which you can see in full by clicking here.

The top five agents have been ranked by disposals, with some others flagged up as important players. Developers have not been ranked, but the list highlights those that look best placed to take advantage of the next cycle.

The power list is bound to provoke debate - and we welcome it. So, if you disagree with our selection or think that your company should be up there, tell us why by leaving a comment below. 

Let the debate begin... 

 Power On button image by LivingOS from Flickr, used under creative commons licence

Guest post: Don't let one below average year write Manchester's office market off .

By Nadia Elghamry on November 18, 2011 12:01 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
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Estates Gazette's Manchester-based lead research executive Antoinette Nevin, analyses the outlook for the local office market. 

After years of Manchester's office market performing well, a below average year should certainly not be cause to write off the capital of the North West.

Last year would be a tough act to follow. It was an especially strong because of the Co-op prelet which accounted for 328, 000 sq ft of take up.  But, with a reported increase in new enquires during September and October, office space under offer and new developments on the horizon, the year is not over yet. 

Key deals of quarter three include the 26,000 sq ft sale of 1 Norfolk Street to the Iraqi Consulate, Late Rooms taking 11,757 sq ft at the Peninsula and Outsourcery leasing 7,792 sq ft at 1 The Avenue in Spinningfields. Also, there are signs that space which has lain empty for a while is now being taken. The Metro building - which was completed in 2008 and has remained unoccupied - has seen two deals in which 35,591 sq ft has been taken.  

With that we may see developers dusting off dormant plans. The number of buildings pending construction and refurbishment has been on the rise since 2010 when a lack of much needed pre-lets stood in the way of development. Now could be the time we start to see these buildings getting underway. There is a renewed drive for pre-lets - and schemes such as Property Alliance Group and Development Securities' 71, 000 sq ft Axis which has been on hold since 2009 are now moving ahead. 

Following trends elsewhere in the UK, buildings are being rejuvenated with refurbishments, as is the case with The Courthouse, Deansgate which will see the Grade II-listed building transformed into 13,500 sq ft of high-specification Grade A office space.  

Should interest in these prove to be strong, the potential for development in Manchester is huge especially with The Co-op's much anticipated 4 million sq ft NOMA development and One St Peter Square ready to give the city centre a prolonged lease of life in the coming years.  Now all they need is a bit of occupier confidence and a fair wind to give them the boost to get going.

For more analysis of the Manchester market as well as reports on Liverpool, Chester and the industrial market read EG's North West Focus in tomorrow's magazine. 

Analysis: The fallout after Tithebarn, Preston loses John Lewis

By Nadia Elghamry on November 3, 2011 9:40 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Thumbnail image for fightaf402622ef.jpgThe news this morning that John Lewis had pulled out of £700m Tithebarn (£) regeneration scheme in Preston was a shock.

Battered and bruised, the scheme has had anything but an easy ride but is the loss of John Lewis the final blow? Developers Lend Lease are far from giving up the fight and says it will work with the council on a scaled down version of the 1.5m sq ft scheme - something that probably should have been done a while ago given the economic climate. 

More worrying now for Tithebarn is the fallout from other retailers. Many will have come in off the back of the John Lewis signing, how many will now stay without the pull of the partnership.

It also raises questions over John Lewis signings in other major developments. It's worth noting that nothing at all official has ever been hinted at and John Lewis have always expressed nothing less than their utmost commitment to other developments. But agents in Leeds have long speculated about when the partnership reaches the long-stop clause on its agreement with Hammerson  at the Eastgate Quarter. 

Add in its adventure in Croydon which ended in March 2010 when the council pulled the plug on a major retail development at Park Place anchored by John Lewis and you could understand why the retailer might be getting a bit cheesed off. 

With the partnership increasingly signing up for mini-department stores (think York's announcement yesterday) the question is how many more mega-developments will it get fed up waiting for. 

Related posts (free) :

Related stories (£):

Picture by KellBailey on Flickr

North West Focus Synopsis

By Nadia Elghamry on October 6, 2011 10:46 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
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
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