Recently in Surrey Category

EG's Surrey Sussex and Kent Focus synopsis

By Nadia Elghamry on July 26, 2012 12:52 PM | No TrackBacks

Published 8 September

Regeneration

Analysis of key projects and future trends

Contact: Mark Simmons, freelance writer, 07787 561032, msimmons@sourceform.co.uk

Market health check

All the key numbers crunched and analysed

Contact Stacey Meadwell, regional editor, if you think you can help with data for the key markets and sectors (offices, industrial & retail) across the three counties: Stacey.meadwell@estatesgazette.com

Please contact writers directly by Aug 13 to find out more detail about the particular topics covered within their features

Croydon's conundrum after Nestle takes a break

By Nadia Elghamry on January 5, 2012 1:22 PM | No TrackBacks

So it's official. Nestle will leave Croydon. The town's biggest and highest profile employer is heading to Crawley.

The Kit Kat manufacturer leaves in its wake 120,000 sq ft of secondary office space and a massive dent in the Surrey town's confidence.

Croydon council knew that the town's office stock was ageing and old and offered few options for the conglomerate. In fact the council says around a third of the town's stock needs razing. It has been keen to get this outdated stock back into its own hands. Nestle leaving probably wasn't quite what it had in mind.

It has long since feared Nestle would up sticks and go and it's something we have written about extensively in the past. Jon Rouse, the incredibly well respected chief executive at Croydon council, was measured when asked about Nestle's possible departure back in September last year. He said: "Nestlé is important for the borough and we want them to stay. But all global businesses are footloose and you cannot tie your economic policy to one company."

The council can't be accused of thinking small. It even mulled a land acquisition fund in a slash and burn move to stimulate regeneration and rents by removing the drag of the outdated stock. That would be quite ballsy but may be exactly the sort of move the town now needs.

Continue reading Croydon's conundrum after Nestle takes a break.

EG Surrey, Sussex & Kent Focus 2012 synopsis

By Stacey Meadwell on December 15, 2011 4:07 PM | No TrackBacks

ESTATES GAZETTE SURREY, SUSSEX & KENT FOCUS

Published February 11, 2012

Offices: Analysis of market trends, future performance and activity.

Contact: Adrian Morrison, freelance writer, 07818 013 233, adrian.morrison@addmor.com

Regeneration: Analysis of major projects and their future prospects.

Contact: Helen Hamilton, freelance writer, 07758 833735, bluesomeh@gmail.com

Market health check: If you think you can provide up to date stats for either offices, industrial or retail across all three counties then please get in touch: Stacey.meadwell@estatesgazette.com

To get more details about the individual features and the specific topics covered please contact the writers direct by Monday 16 January

Royal London searches for Whitgift partner - the contenders

By Nadia Elghamry on December 15, 2011 11:04 AM | No TrackBacks

Here on the Focus blog we thought that Westfield's stampede into Croydon wouldn't be the last word on the redevelopment of the Whitgift shopping centre. It's something we've blogged about before.

Today's news that Royal London is searching for a partner (£) for the redevelopment of the 633,000 sq ft centre confirms that.

The cynics out there say this is a ploy by Whitgift's owners to drum up the price of their asset in an ailing market. And why wouldn't they?

Others, like one who has been a planning adviser in the town on redevelopment opportunities elsewhere, think this is unlikely. He argues that the Whitgift Trust and the centre's other owners are long term investors in the town and actually do care what happens to the development.

So how do the contenders shape up?

Well Westfield has everyone excited. It's fresh from opening Stratford City, and many think it will actually deliver. But its detractors say it's not used to dealing with complicated sites. The Olympics site was an easy chunk of land, and just look what happened with its involvement in Nottingham's Broadmarsh centre, a difficult to piece together development that Westfield worked on for over ten years before finally setting it free last month.

Hammerson already owns Centrale shopping centre directly opposite the Whitgift centre. It has stated its aspirations on this blog for a cohesive "seismic" scheme in Croydon. Its experience on Birmingham's Bullring and Bristol's Cabot Circus show that it is no stranger to putting together development partnerships and making them deliver on complex sites. Westfield has no track record of doing this in the UK.

Land Securities is also mooted. It too is used to large complex developments and has already worked with Hammerson on the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham. At the moment it is elbow deep in delivering the redevelopment of Trinity Leeds but with an opening date of Spring 2013 it is probably on the look out for the next thing to get its teeth into.

Lend Lease is the last contender believed to be in the running. It is still smarting from it's run-in at Preston over the Tithebarn scheme. Plans were sent back to the drawing board when John Lewis walked away in November. Will it be up for another long-winded, complicated project quite so soon?

Analysis: The fallout after Tithebarn, Preston loses John Lewis

By Nadia Elghamry on November 3, 2011 9:40 AM | No TrackBacks

The 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.

Surrey, Sussex and Kent synopsis

By Nadia Elghamry on July 26, 2011 12:08 PM | No TrackBacks

PUBLISHED 3 SEPTEMBER 2011

Croydon

A look at development trends.

Adrian Morrison, freelance writer, 07818 013 233, adrian.morrison@addmor.com

Retail

Analysis of market trends

Helen Hamilton, freelance writer, 07758 833735, bluesomeh@gmail.com

Market health check

Covers offices, industrial and retail. Contact: Stacey Meadwell, regional editor stacey.meadwell@estatesgazette.com

Please contact writers with editorial information by Tuesday 9 August, 2011

Surrey Focus synopsis

By Daniel Cunningham on December 16, 2010 3:04 PM | No TrackBacks

Estates Gazette Surrey Focus synopsis

Published February 12, 2011

Croydon

Examination of Croydon's market performance

Contact: Paul Norman, EGi news editor, 020 7911 1894, paul.norman@rbi.co.uk

Retail

Analysis of the retail sector in Surrey

Contact: Mark Simmons, freelance writer, 07787 561032, msimmons@sourceform.co.uk

People

Analysis of the regional market

Contact: Daniel Cunningham, acting deputy regional editor, 020 7911 1822 daniel.cunningham@estatesgazette.com

Market in numbers

Please contact regional editor Stacey.meadwell@estatesgazette.com if you think you can supply up to date Surrey market stats and predictions.

Please contact writers by Wednesday 19 January 2011

John Lewis at Home opens in Croydon - with pics

By Nadia Elghamry on August 26, 2010 12:08 PM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

John Lewis flung open the doors on its at Home store in Croydon today. And despite the London drizzle the queues formed as you can see in the pictures below.

It's the second in the country, following the partnership opening Poole in October, which proved, says JLP, that the smaller format works for them. The plan is to have at least 30 more locations including Swindon and Tunbridge Wells which open in the autumn.

This blog's already written lots on the reasons behind the partnership's possible moves towards the at Home concept including the fact that it's been a bit stymied by developer's lack of action on the big retail development front. The resident's of Croydon just seem happy that something has happened.

Surrey, Sussex and Kent synopsis

By Nadia Elghamry on August 10, 2010 11:28 AM | No TrackBacks

PUBLISHED 25 SEPTEMBER 2010

Surrey
Analysis of current market trends and future issues
Daniel Cunningham, senior writer, 020 7911 1822, daniel.cunningham@estatesgazette.com

Please note that Dan is on holiday until Monday 23rd August

Sussex
Forecasts and predictions for the market
Daniel Cunningham, senior writer, 020 7911 1822, daniel.cunningham@estatesgazette.com

Please note that Dan is on holiday until Monday 23rd August

Kent
Analysis of the current market trends and future issues
Adrian Morrison, freelance writer, 0131 556 9378, adrian.morrison@addmor.com

Kent: infrastructure and development
Analysis of current market trends and future issues
David Thame, freelance writer, 01544 262 896 dthame@clara.co.uk

Market in numbers
Please send up to date figures for supply, take up and rents covering all three counties' office, retail and industrial markets along with comparisons to the same period last year to:
Stacey Meadwell, regional editor stacey.meadwell@estatesgazette.com or Nadia Elghamry, deputy regional editor, nadia.elghamry@estatesgazette.com

Please contact writers with editorial information by 31st August, 2010

Please note that Dan is on holiday until Monday 23rd August

Croydon offered ogle at changing panorama - or is it?

By Nadia Elghamry on May 28, 2010 11:33 AM | No TrackBacks

Fancy a tea party in space?

That's what a press release offered the Focus desk this morning.

On closer inspection it turns out that the tea party is genuine, but the space is in Croydon at Portuguese developer Tricos Imobiliaria's recently refurbished office development Impact House. The release says the schemes architects MDR are offering:

"an open invitiation to experience first hand the changing panoramic skylines of Croydon in a fun and light hearted afternoon tea party"

I'm tempted to pop along, if only to see the changing panoramic skyline of Croydon. The last time we took a look, very little has changed in the town for a while and its something the council, under its various leaders, has been getting quite a lot of grief about for some time both in the national press and on this blog.

John Lewis settles for home store in Croydon

Podcast: BCSC President and John Lewis development head talks about the future of the retail market

EG's London Development Summit: 'Flexble' Croydon council open for business says Rouse

Picture by Bredgur from Flickr

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Recently in Surrey Category

EG's Surrey Sussex and Kent Focus synopsis

Croydon's conundrum after Nestle takes a break

EG Surrey, Sussex & Kent Focus 2012 synopsis

Royal London searches for Whitgift partner - the contenders

Analysis: The fallout after Tithebarn, Preston loses John Lewis

Surrey, Sussex and Kent synopsis

Surrey Focus synopsis

John Lewis at Home opens in Croydon - with pics

Surrey, Sussex and Kent synopsis

Croydon offered ogle at changing panorama - or is it?

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