February 2011 Archives

Following on from my news story earlier today about Sanguine Hospitality transforming Brum's outdated Kennedy Tower into a 224-bedroom Holiday Inn Express Hotel, here is the first image of how the scheme will look post makeover.

Sanguine, backed by Downing Corporate Finance and investment manager Rathbones are going to shell out £10m on the refurbishment. This of course all hinges on the plans for the 192,000 sq ft scheme winning consent.

Fingers crossed. As a major gateway site into Birmingham, something needs to happen on this site and soon.

Read more about this and other developments in EG's West Midlands Focus published on 5th March...

Image courtesy of architect Falconer Chester Hall

Many of you may be experiencing a severe case of deja vu after yesterday's announcement that the John Lewis Partnership will anchor the revamped Pallasades Shopping Centre - a key part of the £600m Gateway project comprising the redevelopment of New Street Station.

Now, I'm not one to gloat, but those of you with good memories will recall that back in August last year I exclusively revealed the news within the pages of Estates Gazette that Britain's best loved high street retailer was poised to open one of its largest stores in the country at the soon-to-be renovated Pallasades Shopping Centre

At the time, this was one of Birminghham's best kept secrets. Yes, everyone knew that JLP wanted to get a foothold in the city and yes it had been linked with the Birmingham Alliance's now defunct Martineau Galleries mixed-use development - but no-one guessed that the run-down and frankly horrible Pallasades Shopping Centre would get such a massive shot in the arm as to have a 250,000 sq ft John Lewis department store as its new anchor.

Of course, it makes absolute sense. With 35m passengers travelling through the station each year, footfall will not be an issue, JLP gets its long-awaited flagship store in the city centre and this letting will no doubt cement Birmingham's retail credentials as the third best shopping destination (after London and Glasgow respectively) in the UK.

If planning consent is granted, we could be experiencing all the shiny new department store has to offer come 2014.

Here's a round-up of how some of the other media broke yesterday's news:

The Birmingham Post focusses on the 650 jobs that will will be created in the city by the new store opening.

The BBC reports a Network Rail spokesman saying "Today's deal is a further sign that our plans are critical to the long term success of the city and will create new jobs and stimulate economic growth." 

The BusinessDesk.com says JLP was "long rumoured to be a potential anchor tenant of the new retail development alongside the station refurbishment."

Click on the link below to see new images of the proposed development.

February is never that cheerful, even at the best of times. With the cold weather, Christmas a distant memory and MIPIM still a month away things tend to look a bit grim. Throw in a recession and there really isn't much to look forward to.

So it's heartening to hear some good news, in this case coming out of the East Midlands. This week Innes England is presenting its annual review of the region's property markets over the next three days in Nottingham, Leicester and Derby and the figures bring some unexpected cheer.

Leicester's industrial take-up figures have leapt by 38% - great news, albeit that most transactions remain at sub 10,000 sq ft levels, while Nottingham has the highest level of investment activity in the East Midlands with a 50% leap over the last year.

But let's be clear, this report doesn't pretend that everything is rosy and that the markets are doing stormingly well. Instead Innes England is pointing out that the region's property markets didn't perform as badly last year as many might think.

Of course, a round-up of historic data doesn't necessarily tell us much about the year to come. Innes England is the first to point out that various factors, including the demise of EMDA and the uncertainty surrounding bank lending mean that 2011 will be nothing short of challenging.

But for this week at least, so close to Valentine's Day (next Monday in case you were wondering chaps) let's take heart that things may be a tad better than we thought.

Pic courtesy of dev null via Flickr

Here's a first look at a computer-generated video tour and new images of the proposed Library of Birmingham launched in the city this morning.

Designed by Mecanoo Architecten, work on site is well under way for the £193m project which will sit in between Targetfollow's Baskerville House and The Birmingham Repertory Theatre on Centenary Square. The scheme will open in 2013

Take a look at these snazzy new images and the fly-through below and feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think...

Heartening news from Nottingham, where a band of merry surveyors (and other professionals) from the city is facing up to the challenges thrown up by the recession. After funding cuts by the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham (aka coalition government) left Nottingham City Council unable to find enough sovereigns for a MIPIM presence this year, a posse led by local agent Innes England will ride out to Cannes in their stead.

The private sector line-up also includes developer Miller Birch, cost consultants Gleeds, Morgan Tucker engineers, architect CPMG and lawyer Geldards. And in a modern Robin Hood-like act they'll throw enough money in the pot to take a key member of urban regeneration company Invest in Nottingham with them, all expenses included.

The team is keeping schtum about exactly how much they've put in the kitty for their presence at MIPIM which includes hosting two networking events - a dinner for investors and a less formal drinks reception. Safe to say, it's unlikely the budget will stretch to hosting them on board Powder-Monkey, the 100ft luxury yacht moored in Cannes which Nottingham has hired in previous years.

Picture of Cannes courtesy of www:FranceHouseHunt.com via Flickr