Recently in Regeneration Category

Imagine my surprise yesterday when North East-based property tycoon David Abrahams (pictured) told me that Durham Green, the business park scheme in County Durham which he is currently selling, could eventually contain a whopping 75m sq ft of commercial space.

Abrahams, who achieved a degree of fame as the man who sparked the government's 2007 'donorgate' scandal, is in the process of selling the 540-acre site in County Durham to First Industrial Developments, the company formed by a group of ex-Prologis directors last year. (EGi subscribers can read the full story here).

First Industrial say the first 75-acre phase of the project is likely to comprise a somewhat more conservative 1.3m sq ft of industrial and office space, rather than the 8m sq ft-plus suggested by Abrahams. The entire project, believe First Industrial would only just get above that at a more realistic 10m sq ft.

By contrast phase two of Prologis' DIRFT development will be 2m sq ft.

The North West is "leading the UK out of recession," and "intervention at a regional level has protected the region from the ravages of recession." That was the bullish claim of one speaker at this morning's Smith Institute seminar at the House of Lords this morning I went to this morning.

The institute used the seminar, which featured among others North West minister Phil Woolas, to unveil its latest publication,The Future of the North West.pdf

The report states that the North WEst now has a £120bn economy and urges that the region be granted greater economic powers in order that its economic priorities be met.

The Chatham House rule prevents me from dishing the dirt on who exactly said what, but the flavour was a generally positive - vehemently at times - overview of how the North West is faring this downturn.

I remember one of my first trips to Liverpool after it had been announced it had won the European capital of culture. There, in a subway by the train station, was a man bent over throwing up on the capital of culture banner. Many have since poured equal scorn on the title.

The shortlist for the inagural City of Culture in 2013 was announced yesterday, with Sheffield, Norwich, Birmingham and Londonderry making the grade.
Yet column inches have been filled debating if the honour is worth it and if the Capital of Culture really spurred on regeneration in Liverpool or if the fixed timeline just added another headache. So what do the locals make of it?

In Yorkshire although there was mourning for Hull and Barnsley which didn't make the list, the Yorkshire Post rolls out Sheffield-born actor Sean Bean, and says the city will become a  magnet for the arts...."hosting events such as the Turner Prize and the Brit Awards."

Quite what the highbrow arts community might make of the Brit Award winner Lily Allen flying the flag for cultrure is another thing.

The subtle difference between these two recently-taken pictures (except for the fact that one is a night-time snow scene and the other isn't) is that they show the site of Manchester's largest development project, before and after the diggers rolled in.

The images are taken from the top of the Co-operative Group's New Century House in Manchester and show the site of the group's 325,000 sq ft headquarters development. The top picture, taken last December, clearly shows the landholding still in use as a car park. The bottom picture, taken last week, shows that groundworks for the 3D Reid-designed building are now underway (EGi subscribers can read more about the project here.) 

There's plenty of talk about Peel's MediaCityUK at the moment, especially surrounding ITV, which is currently based in central Manchester but is talking to Peel about a potential move (EGi subscribers can read about the talks here).

In the wake of EG's Manchester Focus reception on Wednesday evening, I made the trip to Salford Quays yesterday to see for myself how the scheme is coming along.

The view from many in Manchester is that Peel needs to bag ITV in order to bring a second major media anchor to the scheme, and prevent it from simply becoming known as the BBC's home in The North.

With ITV recently appointing former FA and Royal Mail man Adam Crozier as chief executive and Archie Norman as chairman, most are hopeful that the broadcaster's long-mooted move to Salford Quays, taking with it the famed cobbles of Coronation Street, will happen.

That said, the view of Media City from across the Manchester Ship Canal is already pretty impressive. Click on the slide-show below to see the photographic evidence.

 

Colin Sinclair's decision to quit as chief executive of Greater Manchester's inward investment agency, MIDAS, to join Bruntwood has been greeted with surprise and curiosity in Manchester.

"Colin has done a fantastic job in flying the flag for Manchester and he will be a very hard act to follow," says Ken Bishop, head of DTZ's Manchester office.

Echoing other views in the city, Bishop added that he will be "intrigued" to see what exactly Sinclair's role with Bruntwood will be.

Peter Gallagher of agency P3 was similarly full of praise for Sinclair earlier today: "He leaves a huge legacy and his achievements at MIDAS are immeasureable.

He added that any new job for Sinclair would have to be a "big role" and that it "clearly signals a change in Bruntwood's operation; he goes there with a big brief."

According to today's press release from Bruntwood, Sinclair will be the firm's special projects director, with the redevelopment of the Manchester Business School his first task.

Barely 24 hours since Jim Gill announced he was to hang up his gloves as chief executive of Liverpool Vision (EGi subscribers can read more here) and already there's plenty of market chatter about who is likely to be in the frame, or at least, who should be in the frame.

Vision's chairman, Mike Parker, is already on the hunt for Gill's replacement, but one unofficial name to crop up at this early stage is Vision's investment director, Mike Taylor, who used to head up Business Liverpool before it was incorporated into Vision in 2008. 

In general, Liverpool agents are full of praise for Gill, the man who oversaw Vision during a period of significant growth for Liverpool as a city and a property market.

The snow has got Focus in a festive mood again this week and in the mag we're already pretending its Christmas 2010. 

In the London market pages I've asked the capital's experts to cast their minds forward and tell us how they think they'll be summing up the market come December.

Up for discussion is the possibility of a hung parliament, and expiring planning permissions at Sellar Property's New London Bridge House more commonly known as Baby Shard, as well as phase 2 of Hammersmith Embankment.

Talk of rental growth is always on agents lips and indeed there's plenty of that in the predicitions. But, with the news today that both Australian bank Macquarie and law firm Stephenson Harwood have been shunted from newly occupied City schemes (EGi subscribers can read the story here) it seems some of their forecasts are already coming true.

In the south-west boroughs Battersea Power Station's future hangs on the Northen Line extension. Melanie Smith looks if the sums will add up. And Daniel Cunnigham asks what's next at Elizabeth House in Waterloo after planners rejected initial proposals. The naming of a new developer is long overdue and most are desperate to see its future crystallised.

Picture courtesy of anniemullinsuk on Flickr 

Yorkshire's TheBusinessDesk.com is reporting that Leeds Arena has been given a £9.9m lifeline from governnment to push the project forward.

It's an interesting move given the government turned down a bid from Yorkshire Forward to put £18m into the pot back in October saying the project didn't provide value for money.

Yorkshire Forward went back to have another look at its sums, heavily tweaked and trimmed the amount of public money it needed and came in at a figure a hair's breadth away from the £10m mark at which funding needs central government approval. According to the council's website the total cost of construction is £59m. Include land purchases and the figure for development rises to nearer £80m.

 

A few pics of the launch party at Granary Wharf, Leeds came in today. The 'do' last week was to officially launch the commercial units at ISIS Waterside Regeneration's £40m scheme. The developers have got nearly 15, 000 sq ft of retail to let and have taken the brave stance of saying they're keen to keep the area free of high street chains. We'll keep you posted on how that goes.